The woman picked up her pen.
There are many complex fates that were interrupted and interwoven through the tragic beauty of Blumiere and Timpani’s love. It would be impossible to tell of them all, but where would we be without some sense of closure?
I will start with Earth. It was left to last for so, so often, pushed to the wayside as normal, as unconnected. But it is the oldest of all the worlds. Not in time experienced, but in terms of creation. One could say the others all branched off from it, though this is a bit of an exaggeration. Earth flowed from the same source as all the others, so naturally there would be some similarities.
Earth’s time moves the slowest of all the worlds. Hardly any time has passed for them since the Void was destroyed. The only dimensional activity they’ve had since was a connection with Narnia that the Penvensies had nothing to do with and a brief visit by Gilgamesh, who stopped by a bar and drank himself silly before vanishing. Unlike Timpani, who was horrified and destroyed by this life, Gilgamesh has come to accept it so devoutly that his idea of home is to be continually moving from one world to another.
As for Lucy, she remembered who Lulu was and the events of the end, but she didn’t define herself by them. She continued in her life as a peaceful, believing girl who impressed all her other siblings. In the end, not much changed for Earth. Lucy was still Lucy, Edmund was still Edmund, and Peter was still Peter. Susan still drifted from the memories of fantastic places, trying instead to fit into her world as though nothing had happened. Their fates will likely remain the same, but who am I to reveal if it happens exactly as it would have if the Void never came?
The Elemental Nations of Diqiu have experienced much more time. Avatar Aang’s era has come and gone, replacing it with Avatar Korra, a young girl who, as of the writing of this, is training under Toph to learn earthbending. There is no hermiting in a swamp for Toph this time, for she has devoted her life to teaching and developing new bending techniques to share with the world. She’s an old woman now, but she still has that amazing bite to her.
The experience many of the warriors and soldiers of the Elemental Nations had with the other worlds prompted them to become more unified than they previously were, and the world as a whole has been turning its eyes to the stars. There are rumors of starting up a Starfleet if they can figure out how to replicate warp drive. It is not an easy task, but it looks like after all these decades they might finally succeed. In a year they’re planning on launching someone to the moon. Remarkably fast progression.
Mobius has not experienced as much time, only a few years. But Tails has already used the restored Chaos Emeralds to pilot the Blue Typhoon into space. Without Eggman breathing down their backs and the Metarex without a goal in life, he has been able to start a sort of Federation of his own. The bond between him and Cosmo has been an inspiration to bring the races of the universe together.
Sonic, as usual, just keeps running and running and nothing ever stops him. Without Eggman around, he’s bored a lot more than usual, but he’s still doing his thing. Sometimes Tails drops him off on a random planet and lets him run around more. Knuckles, as expected, is always around the Master Emerald. No one has put it in a spaceship since it returned. The Master Emerald is perfectly satisfied with this arrangement.
The Federation experienced a dramatic growth in members after the events of the Prophecy came to pass, for the universe felt a brand new feeling of unification. Picard continued as Captain for as long as he could, eventually performing the mission where he would return to the past and meet Sunset, despite it having to happen differently without Data there. But Sunset kept her promise—she made sure it happened.
However, the Alpha Quadrant was heavily weakened, and with the improvement of the Borg from assimilating interdimensional technology, it was a hard time that forced the Federation, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and many others to come together to push back the enemies. When the mysterious Dominion came and declared war, Cardassia fought against them, not with them as they would have before. The Borg launched a few devastating attacks, but in the end, they were countered by their own technology—for the other races had taken some technology from beyond and used it to defend themselves. Magic, as unlikely as it sounds, slowly began seeping back into Hume, to Sunset’s delight.
Some crazy Federation scientists wanted to bring Data back, using a sample of a single neuron of his matrix that they’d found on the Enterprise. However, Picard forbade it—Data made his choice. There was no need to bring him back to a world he didn’t need to be in. Because of this, research into artificial intelligence stalled, and there was no tragedy on Mars as a result.
When the Romulan Star Empire collapsed from the supernova disaster, the Federation was there to offer its support wholeheartedly. Though this means the Romulans still have many secret operatives around the galaxy, trying to prevent true artificial intelligence from being made at all costs, and nobody knows about it.
Picard, an aging man, saw his Federation rise to become the force he knew it could be. He’s old, very old, now; and a brain defect he had since birth is threatening to manifest a terminal disease. But who knows, maybe he’ll find a way out of it.
Caspian lived to a very old age. The ending of his life coincided with the arrival of Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole to Narnia, where they saved Caspian’s son and Narnia itself from an evil that lurked deep beneath the earth itself. As his life slipped from his wrinkled old fingers, Aslan granted him his request at long last—he got to walk on Earth for a short time, and then he got to see the other heroes of the Light Prognosticus once more before Aslan finally took him.
Narnia itself survived his passing, passing the crown to his son. They still prosper to this day. There are rumors that, perhaps, the end of Narnia will come soon… but that is not for me to write.
In Lumash, I continue to watch the stars. Nothing has changed there. On the Mushroom World, things are largely the same. Rogueport is still a hive of scum and villainy. Frankly still shouts in shock every time anything even remotely unusual happens. And Mario is still the hero of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Luigi, though, he went through a change. He came back to his world ready to be a hero—no longer a joke, he became renowned the world over for his daring, heroics, and kind spirit. And unlike the last time he became famous, which was a somewhat ridiculous adventure involving a compass, this time it was real greatness. He really was a hero. He saved the world several times with his brother, including facing off against mysterious mushroom aliens and a dark star hidden beneath the earth.
And then there’s the gauntlet. Already, it’s a flowering paradise with Seedirans wandering around. They have no idea of their purpose yet, and that’s okay. After they mature a bit more, I will visit them myself and bring them somewhere new.
Equis is still the harmonious place it once was. Without Twilight rising to take the throne anymore, Discord quietly pushed his little plan to boost her confidence under the rug. He and Fluttershy married shortly thereafter, cementing Discord as the only one to escape the tragedy of the Dark Prognosticus. He and Fluttershy are now part of the ruling council of Equestria, which includes Cadence and Flurry Heart. Celestia and Luna did get to retire, they just had to wait for another alicorn to rise to the challenge.
To her credit, while Flurry Heart complains about being groomed from birth to be a ruler, she still does her job really well. Even if she’s a little too obsessed with video games. Most ponies blame Luna for this.
Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash largely went back to their regular lives. They already had fame so it didn’t increase at all. The Elements no longer functioned without all their members, but as it turned out, there were always other ways to defeat evil.
Sweetie Belle ended up taking over her sister’s fashion empire. She had no sense at all for design, but she had a sense for business and managed to work with Rarity’s close friends and business partners to keep the boutiques running for quite some time. After that was able to run itself, she ended up taking Rarity’s destiny as the Equestrian Ambassador.
Shadoo did, in fact, reconstitute in Equis after the world was restored. He is a bit of a nuisance, but the heroes of Equestria beat him every time he rears his ugly head. In a way, the ponies are thankful for him, reminding them that even in their world there is always a need to stand against evil.
The Ninth World blasted forward a thousand years and, naturally, everything changed. There are millions of Twilight Splinters now, and they basically think of themselves as a unique race. Nothing else is the same, for the Ninth World is a world of change, and it eternally shifts with tides much larger than the other realms.
Jenny is still around, because of course she is. She’s always around. Currently, she’s taken to being an explorer of the deep oceans of her planet, wondering what delightful treasures she might find. Though, mostly, she’s looking for excitement.
And that is what the worlds have been doing. That is how they are, and how they have grown. It is a beautiful multiverse that has been saved.
And as for what happened to Flipside and the others… well, that is not for me to write down. That is for others to see.
Rosalina put her pen aside and closed the little book. She put it back on the bookshelf. Stooping down, she opened a chest next to a bookshelf that contained a much larger, much more dangerous book—the Prognosticus.
“All your prophecies have come to pass,” Rosalina said, lifting the book onto her desk. “Your twisted presence is needed no more. Begone.”
The Prognosticus burst into purple flames.
~~~
Interdimensional Space was rarely the calm, creamy place that Flipside and Castle Bleck had resided in. Most often, it was a tumultuous rumble of half-remembered worlds, streaks of stars across dark backgrounds, magic run amok, and random remnants of Gaia. In one particular spot, it appeared as the interface between an ocean of stars and a sky of harsh green filled with cubes of various sizes.
In this interface, a chase was taking place. The predator: a world snake, each scale made out of a different shimmering material, some of which were on fire or glowing with brilliant radiation. The snake didn’t care about its impossibility, only that there was possible prey in front of it: a ship composed of chiseled white bricks held together by an eerily smooth black material with sharp white outlines. Overall, the ship appeared as a teardrop, though it had three disconnected rings orbiting around it at different speeds with blue electricity arcing between them, giving it the appearance of a gyroscope in the middle of a thunderstorm.
It was making waves in the ocean of stars—which actually did behave like a liquid in this area—in an attempt to distance itself from the world snake. This effort wasn’t working.
Twilight Sparkle, adorned in golden regalia and a crown made to emulate the Element of Magic, cocked her head, frowning as she examined the snake approaching on the main screen. “Well. We’ve been away from Flipside for five minutes and already we’re being chased by a monster. I swear, this place just hates us.”
“I recommend turning back to Flipside!” Bon Bon called, pressing a bunch of buttons on her console, readying weapons. “I highly doubt rippler bursts are going to work on this thing.”
“Can it follow us through a slip?” Twilight asked.
“Possibly,” Data said from his position next to her, rapidly pushing buttons. He wore a simple yellow outfit that wasn’t a Starfleet uniform, but he still proudly wore the useless communicator on it. “But Flipside’s defenses should be more than capable of defeating it.”
“Call Vivian and tell her to expect chaos, Number One,” Twilight ordered—prompting Nastasia to nod and make the call. “Engineering! How fast can you get us a slip opening?”
“Oh ho ho ho!” Eggman’s voice came from the call. “Now you want something?”
“Eggman, now is not the time to argue about your sandwich this morning.”
“I think it’s a wonderful time, Princess!”
“Stop calling me that, I’m not a Princess anymore, I’m a Chancellor. Or Captain if yo—”
“Now is probably not the best time to discuss naming policy,” Data suggested.
“Agreed,” Nastasia said. “Eggman, just get us out of here as quickly as possible? ‘K?”
“Fine, fine… Slip in five…”
“Five what?” Twilight asked.
“Seconds.”
Their ship twisted around a section of space that had more dimensions than usual, tearing open a rift in reality with a white laser. The ship paddled through the watery sea into the rift, slipping through a shortcut in reality filled with colors, puffballs, and this time little yellow faces that laughed at them.
“I am never going to understand why slipping does this to us,” Bon Bon muttered. “I feel like I lose brain cells every time we pass through.”
“At least it’s visually unpredictable,” Twilight said.
“Even unpredictability can get boring.” Bon Bon pressed a button. “Scaly is still following us, by the way.”
“He’s about to be in for a world of hurt,” Twilight reminded her.
The ship fell out of slip, drifting into the creamy smooth skies where Flipside stood. What had once been Castle Bleck was now affixed to the bottom half of Flipside, making the city even larger, and filled with many wonders of Gaian ghosts and other strange things.
Vivian appeared onscreen. “What are you bringing us!?” She wore a similar gold robe to Twilight, though she had no crown: just a circlet that went around her hat.
“Chancellor!” Twilight grinned. “I’m bringing you a world snake! Spin up the Heart, this might be fun!”
“You’ve gotten more reckless with age…”
“Tell that to Rarity,” Twilight said. “She wants me to teleport her over there so she can stab the thing.”
“Really?” Data asked.
Twilight turned her chair around to show the private messages coming from Rarity to her leg-rest’s screen.
“Ah. Of course.”
The world snake erupted from the tear in space, charging right for Flipside.
“And a one…” Vivian said, grabbing hold of the gem of the Tribe of Darkness. “And a two… and a three!” She waved her finger and grinned.
Nothing happened.
“...Mimi!” Vivian called.
“I’m working on it, I’m working on it!” Mimi called from offscreen. “The Heart had a hiccup and it needs to charge! Just need to reroute the—got it!”
A burst of white light erupted from the center of Flipside and turned the snake into gray ash that drifted away in the calm wind.
“Thanks!” Twilight said.
“You’re welcome!” Mimi said, shoving her face in next to Vivian’s.
Vivian pushed her to the side so she could talk to Twilight without her being a distraction. “You have to stop bringing monsters chasing you back to Flipside!” Vivian huffed.
“I didn’t think my weapons could handle it.”
“You have Cortez on board! He literally cannot die! Throw him at it!”
“Then I’d have to throw Rarity at it and you know how she is about getting credit.”
Vivian facepalmed, but couldn’t help but smile. “Just… just pull in for a check-up, to make sure the ship’s functioning properly.”
“Fine, fine… Take us in.”
Data plotted the course and they flew into one of Flipside’s many ship bays, landing on a runway of smooth bricks where one of Merlon’s hovering screens were waiting.
>>Reckless as always, Chancellor<< Merlon said the moment Twilight teleported herself and Data out of the ship.
“I’m not the ‘hero of legend’ for no reason, Merlon.”
“I do believe you were not this reckless on our first adventure,” Data said.
“True…” She reared up and kissed him on the cheek. “But let me have some fun.”
Data cocked his head to the side. “I sure know to let you have your fun.”
“Just as I know to let you have all your cats.”
“I only have twenty-three.”
Twilight glared at him.
Data broke out into a smile and winked at her.
“All right you two, break it up.” Two twin girls of human appearance walked up to them, though both Data and Twilight knew better—they were not human, but androids.
“Yeah, mom, you have to keep some of your respect!” the other twin said.
After all, Data and Twilight had built them together.
Data pulled his daughters into a hug. “Dahj! Soji! I’m back early!”
“Which means you’ve had a problem with your mission,” Dahj said. “World snake?”
“Definitely the world snake,” Soji agreed.
Dahj pressed her finger into one of the ship’s outer access ports, frowning. “Your ship is running at ninety-seven point three four efficiency, dad. Nothing for us engineers to do here.”
“You know. Besides say ‘hi.’ “ Soji waved at her parents. “Hi!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “You two are crazy.”
“Not as crazy as you,” Rarity said, having teleported off the ship herself—dragging her specialized team of Amy and Cortez along with. Amy was currently in a black combat power suit that exposed only her head and Cortez was still Cortez. Rarity herself wore no armor, just a necklace that continually surrounded her in protective enchantments.
“I could turn right around and say that to you,” Twilight huffed. “I’m not teleporting you onto a world snake’s eye.”
“I knew you wouldn’t. That’s why I kept asking.” Rarity twirled her blade into the air and tapped it on the ground, a wry smile on her face.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Of course…”
Ty Lee rushed onto the scene with a hovercart full of medical supplies. She wore a smooth, pink outfit similar to what she’d worn most of her time on Diqiu, though like Data she wore her now-defunct Starfleet communicator proudly. “Does anybody need a doctor?”
“We’ve got several cases of insanity,” Amy pointed out. “So, yes.”
“Hey!” Rarity and Twilight blurted at once.
Data cocked his head. “It occurs to me that, if the two of them are insane, we are all insane.”
“Wow, amazing, look at that,” Soji deadpanned, though she couldn’t help but smile. “Dad figured it out! We’re all completely nuts.”
Ty Lee rolled her eyes. “Well, in that case, I’ll just be off.” She cartwheeled onto her cart and smiled at them while upside-down. “I’m going to cure the dimensional bend-pox! Maybe. Hopefully. Bye!” She zoomed off, giggling all the while.
“That woman has no ‘relax’ button,” Dahj said, folding her arms.
“It’s part of her charm,” Rarity said. “Now. How about we get back on the ship and get back out there? I’m sure ther—”
>>You need to go back out immediately.<< Merlon said, shoving his screen in their faces. >>We are getting readings of a dimensional tear that leads to one of the universes.<<
Twilight gasped. “But… we haven’t found a tear into one of the universes since we’ve been out here! It’s been…”
“On average, twenty years,” Data said. “Though given the time discrepancy I know of at least one individual who thinks we have only been out for one year and another who lived a whole century.”
“What are we waiting for?” Rarity shouted. “Back on the ship!”
Twilight teleported back into her chair. “Nastasia, we’re in for a bumpy ride. I think.”
“Preparing for launch… again.” Nastasia’s frown deepened. “I haven’t even gotten my coffee yet today.”
After Twilight confirmed that everyone was on board, she ordered the ship into the sky. They left Flipside behind once more and danced on the edge of space.
“Is everyone ready?” Twilight asked. Getting a bunch of nods and thumbs up, she grinned. “Eggman, let’s sip on through.”
“Prepare for a bumpy ride…” Eggman reported.
“Here goes nothing,” Data said, smirking.
They went into a new tear…
...and popped out the other side instantly without any bumpy ride at all.
“Well.” Twilight blinked. “That was… anticlimactic.”
“We’re being hailed,” Data reported.
“Onscreen.”
Jenny appeared on the screen, her left eyebrow raised. “You guys were just here!”
Twilight stared at her in disbelief.
“It’s only been a thousand years! That’s hardly any time at all!”
Twilight facehoofed. “...It’s good to see you too, Jenny.”
Jenny broke out into a grin. “Welcome back to the Ninth World!”
“Thank you,” Twilight said. “Did you know we had Ezermond with us this entire time?”
“Oh, is that why he stopped showing up? I should thank you! He was really annoying!”
Ezermond appeared behind Jenny and started singing. “I’m back! At last! And it feels so great! It’s been one million archons since I’ve had to do a jig! Provide me with a handle so I can eat some milkshake!”
Jenny facepalmed. “Oh for the… Uuuuuugh…” She shook her head. “Aggravating mysterious freak aside, it’s good you’re back.”
“Oh?” Nastasia asked.
“Yeah, we’ve got a teensy itsy bitsy runaway black hole problem. Think you could help?”
Twilight nodded, smiling brightly. “We would love to. After all, that’s why we’re out here. To explore… and to help. Tell us everything we need to know.”
“Well, see, it mostly isn’t my fault…”