//------------------------------// // Welcome To Paradise // Story: Animation Corps: Entropy // by Peridork //------------------------------// Equestria had a problem on its hands. A Princess needed a kingdom to rule at all times. One problem was that there were no new kingdoms to be found. Explorers had scoured the globe for months on end to find the newly crowned Princess a place for her to rule. Everywhere they looked, they ran into dead ends. The Changelings were entrenched in the South. The Gryphons were on the defense after the last trade agreement that caused them to cede part of their lands to the Minotaurs. And the problem extended all around the world. There was just no room for a new Alicorn overlord. So what did our plucky heroine do? She moped like there was no tomorrow. *** Spike gently knocked on the door to Twilight’s room. After he heard no reply, he entered the darkened room. The blinds were drawn, so as to not let the rays of the sun come in and stop Twilight’s moping. The mare in question sat on what used to be her bed. Now it would be termed “a blanket fort” and she sat in it like a queen, Her mane was disheveled and her eye spasmed continuously, but she didn’t care anymore. “Uh, Twilight. Princess Celestia’s worried about you...especially ever since you’ve started not coming to your monthly brunches. She says that she wants to see your face soon...or she’ll come in here and make you see the sun.” Spike nervously sweated and wanted for the reaction to his news. “Oh, and what does she want with the Princess of Books? Does she want another enemy of the state banished to the moon or turned to stone. Or does she need my expertise on how the Dewhoof Decimal system works? I could always become the Head Librarian of the Canterlot Archives or something...” Spike knew he had to pull out the true reason why Princess Celestia wanted Twilight and the other Element Bearers as well. “Twilight, actually Celestia wrote this scroll,” Spike tossed the scroll which had just recently come by dragon mail to Twilight. “and she says it’s pretty important. She didn’t say why though...she just said that it is a matter of national importance.” Twilight’s ears perked up at that last bit and she nearly leapt out of her blanket fort and picked up the scroll to read. “Twilight- My sister and I have uncovered an ancient artifact that that has been buried in the Crystal Empire. Come quickly and bring your friends. -Celestia” Twilight began to pace nervously around her bedroom. Her wings fluttered gently at her sides and her horn began to light up with a basic levitation spell in order for her to grab her things scattered around the room. “Spike. Take a letter and send out copies to the others. Tell them that we have a mission on our hands. Oh, and Spike, before I forget- you can also come to the Crystal Empire.” Spike quietly celebrated his good fortune and sent out the message to the others. Ever since Twilight had ascended, she had used her Princess funds for a lifetime supply of dragon candles for each of her friends. Since dragon candles lasted until well after a pony’s lifetime, one for each was sufficient. *** “Now Twilight what did ya need us here for again?” Applejack stood though yet another incomprehensible terrified rant by the newest Princess of Equestria. Twilight had been calm until Rainbow started talking about all the strange things that Celestia could do to them. *** “Twilight, what if Celestia locks us up in the dungeon and sends you to the absolutely worst place ever- the farthest, darkest, and coldest place in all of Equestria. That lake in Tartarus that Daring Do went to in that one story...Tartarus Found. Or something like that. I think it was Cocytus or something.” “Dash, that lake is just an old mare’s tale.” “Oh really? What if Celestia is possessed by the stuff that Luna was possessed by and then she makes Discord create it as a joke?” “I don’t want to be sent to the coldest place ever!” Twilight screamed while clutching onto Smarty Pants. Somehow Twilight had made the stuffed toy come back to her again and she was rocking back and forth in blind terror. Applejack just groaned and walked off grumbling. The train that they were on continued rolling on towards the Crystal Empire. *** Celestia stared off into space. The letter she sent to her former student weighed heavily on her mind. The lies that she had surrounded herself with caused her facade of absolute calm to slip off from her face for one of the few times in her lifetime. Luna trotted up to her sister and draped a wing over her sister’s body. She grabbed both of their royal garb in her magic and slid them off gently. Celestia relaxed a bit and glanced over to her sister. Their mental connection gave them the privacy that they needed. “Sister, we do understand why you now chose this time to tell the Element Bearers.” “Lulu, you know the prophecy that was given to us before the Schism happened...” “Yes we do. But that doesn’t mean that we need to show them now. Our subjects are happy, our economical guilds are thriving, the cloaking magic is perfect, and the ponies do not know want.” “Yes that is all true, but they have no free will. The spells that created this dimension are absolute and you know that not even you could escape their influence.” Luna’s eye twitched because of her memory of the day that she turned into the Nightmare. “Celly, I knew that that was going to happen. It was prophesied by our previous masters when we were tasked to send the souls into a realm of joy. I held that duty over my head for millennia and I was the one that relinquished my control over the Elements.” “But Luna...I had to be strong for a thousand years while you were sealed. For nothing. I lied to my student and you acted evil for nothing. It was all a charade created by the Paradiso spells surrounding us.” “Yes and I gladly accepted my fate as the most loathed pony in all of Equestria.” “Don’t you remember the days before... the days when even our most hated enemies were our friends?” Both of the Princesses smiled at the memories of planets that they hadn’t seen in thousands of years and that were separated from them by the last vestige of the sealing magic that had locked them in here until the last prophecy would be fulfilled. Celestia began. “For when there is four of the same ruler in your land, the runes on the mirror will unlock and entry shall be possible.” The sisters began trading off the vocal duties until they finished the prophecy. “And when that happens...the illusion that has been set around you all will fade.” “The mirror will create a portal that returns the forms that you lost” “Returning to the star system with five stones.” “Uniting against a common enemy...” “And with that comes the final battle...Ragnarok!” Both mares chuckled at the prophecy because it made them feel like fillies again. Their friendship had continued through the years and they both realized they burden that each other held inside their heart. The burden of being the ponies that kept the day and night running perfectly, and that the barrier kept the ponies safe until they were ready. The sun set as the two alicorns smiled at the crystalline landscape that shone with the radiance of their dreams. *** As the six mares lay dreaming in the train car that they had comfortably laid down in for a good night’s sleep, a shade strolled in unnoticed. It wrapped itself around the mares and began to whisper ominously in their ears. “Magistrum, Noctus, Yggdrasil, Halcyon, Angelus. You’ll find out what they mean to you. But I have a message from my master and he wants you to know that he is ready for you six, and that...” He bent down and whispered into the ears or the six mares. “and that is going to be my last warning for you. Until we meet again Element Bearers. It will be a joy to watch your worlds burn when we win.” The shade snapped his fingers and laughed evilly as he faded out of view. “Oh and have fun seeing this illusion. Skinfaxi and Hrimfaxi sure have kept this place so cheerful. Too bad that I serve a darker master, or else I would like this place.” The six mares shivered as the dark and otherworldly messenger of darkness left the train car. The hidden message was primed for activation. *** Twilight and the others cantered joyfully through the doors that separated the Crystal throne room from the rest of the palace. A sound of trumpets rang out when Twilight entered the room. She still felt awkward when her presence was announced because she was naturally humble. Both Celestia and Luna stood on either end of the throne. In the room’s midst was the artifact. “We have so much to discuss.” Celestia warmly greeted Twilight with a smile that lit up the entire room. “But first, I urge you all to enter the mirror.” Applejack spoke up. “Uh, mighty sorry Princess, but most of us can’t just go gallivanting inside a mirror.” Celestia chuckled. “Of course, Applejack, but this mirror is special and it needs a little nudge from all of you to work.” The six friends tried to act as nonchalantly as possible and huddled in a pile so as to decide on what to do. “Twi, I really think that this is weird and all.” “Silly, what’s so strange about traveling in mirrors.” “Ugh, forgetting what Pinkie just said- Twilight, do you think this is okay?” “Dash, its fine. I trust in what Princess Celestia says.” “Well, I am okay with whatever Twilight decides. And I hope that our mission involves crystals like these here. I might need gems from later use.” “A-and I am f-fine with walking in a mirror since you girls are going to do it too.” “I guess we are ready then.” Celestia smiled on the outside, but was terrified on the inside. “All right then. If you just stand in a line and walk one by one in the mirror, then I can tell you about your purpose of being here.” *** The six mares nervously awaited their turn and hoped that everything would be okay. Twilight was first and she stepped forward into the mirror. The mirror gave way to her hoof and it sank further into the watery substance. Twilight thought that entering the mirror felt like little pin-pricks that annoyed her, but didn't hurt. She began to felt weird and sick after the feeling was over. She thought she had forgot something and suddenly the mental command came back unhindered. It was one part of a six word phrase that she knew she heard somewhere, but she couldn't place it. It was like no other language she had ever heard and it felt evil and alien. “Ph’nglui” Pinkie Pie entered next and she appeared right beside Twilight. She was bored already because she had become used to entering mirrors every once in awhile to make sure Pinkie Pie Promises were being kept. Right when she was going to complain to Twilight for her boredom, she felt a weird word enter her conscious mind. “Mglw’nath” The same thing happened to Rarity. “Cthulhu” And Applejack. “R’lyeh” Fluttershy. “Wgah’nagl” And, last but not least, Rainbow Dash. “Fhtagn” A swirl of blackness began to appear. From the blackness walked out a being that the ponies had never seen before, but was only hinted at by the oldest of legends. A tall and slim man that acted as if he had all the time in the world to play with the ponies. He grinned and walked towards the mares. His clothes reminded them of the Princesses. His arms were covered in tattoos that hinted at his journey from the ages where there was no civilization, to the ages of Reason, and all the way to today, for his body was just a representation of his control of sentient races and that he was just a Messenger. “Ah, so you did pay attention to me when I hovered over you six in the train. Congratulations are in order to you resourceful mares.” He began to clap slowly and confetti exploded out of his clothes. The ponies stood there unimpressed. Suddenly Celestia and Luna appeared between him and the Element Bearers. Celestia’s mane burned with the wrath of the sun and Luna’s mane was radiating off the coldest air that anypony had ever felt before. “What are you doing here?” “Oh, Skinfaxi, how I missed your fiery mane.” Luna shot a bolt of magic that aimed directly at the man’s heart. To everypony but Celestia and Luna’s shock and awe, he deflected the powerful blast with just a wave of his hand. “Hrimfaxi, you definitely need to start seeing an anger management counselor about your rage...you are just so wound up. It’s like you have snakes in your skin or something!” And he snapped his fingers. Luna began to cry out in pain as she slumped to the ground. Twilight began to rush to her, but saw, to her horror, that something living was literally crawling underneath Luna’s skin. She felt around gently with her magic to see what it was. She began to squirm when she realized that the man was correct. Luna somehow had a snake under her skin. Neither side dared to move. The man calmly waited for the time to pass and began to grin as if he was getting good news. Luna still was slumpd on the ground writhing in pain. Everypony was surprised a t tension breaking as suddenly as it had appeared. The man yawned and snapped his fingers once again. Luna weakly stood up. Her legs shakily held her weight and she glared at the man. “Oh my, I guess I have to go now. I’ve been called back to my work. It’s been fun, but I know I’m holding up a very important event that your rulers have not told you about.” The man walked off into the blackness; his laughter continued to echo through the mirror-space until the silence was broken by Twilight. “Tell us everything now.” Celestia and Luna exchanged glances and finally began their story with the biggest bombshell of all. “None of you are ponies.” *** The words began to sink into the six ponies sitting around the Princesses. And then the yelling began. “We are ponies! Look at us! We have hooves! Ya can’t Be saying that we’re aliens or something? What are we? Who was that and why did he attack us?” *** In Equestria, the crystal mirror began to break and shoot out waves of powerful magic towards the ends of Equestria and beyond. Each pulse began to pull the world closer and closer towards the tear in the magics that created the peaceful land. All across the world, the illusions began to break apart. The seas began to be drained and were sucked into the void. The trees began to brown and die and the sun and moon disappeared. The world was still warm because the true sun and moon were keeping the cold away while their bodies were sitting in the interdimensional void that was surrounding them. The final protocols of the Paradiso system took hold. The sounds of terrified ponies began to die down as the air began to magically soothe them with every breath they took.The creatures in this illusionary world began to fall asleep for the most painful part of the changes. As time went on, the equine forms of the ponies began to change towards a human shape. Their manes became hair and their hooves became hands. The changes between the pony species were more distinct. The pegasi retained their wings, the unicorns lost their horns and tattoos wrapped around their bodies, and the earth ponies kept their natural athleticism and strength. The changes spread like a wildfire throughout the rest of the world. *** “On the matter of that man...” Luna wearily sighed. “he is just one of many things that we have hid from you.” Luna and Celestia’ horns flared up with magic and the floor began to shift into a map that nopony had ever seen before. A map with five planets surrounded by darkness. Twilight and the others gasped when they realized that there was no Equestria on the map. “Princess where’ s Equestria?” “Equestria is now gone. The creatures in Equestria have been sent to these five planets in their original forms so they fit in better with the normal populace.” “Yeah, yeah...get on with it. I want to know who curb stomped Luna.” Rainbow Dash flapped her wings impatiently and waited for an answer. “That being is something that is too alien for you to understand and my sister and I have been fighting him for as long as we can remember. He has so many forms that it is difficult to describe, but he is called Nyarlathotep.” The sense of dread that accompanied the name’s first utterance caused the six mares in attendance to question what they were going to have to do against this menacing thing that caused pain to the Princesses so easily and without a second thought. “He destroyed much of the Purgatorio star system that we are returning to the last time we fought.” The mirror world began to break apart and cracks began to form around the walls and floor. They crept closer towards the ponies gathered in a circle. Luna and Celestia noticed it before it was too late and threw a barrier around the group. “Dear sister, I believe we have no time. Is there another way to speed up the talk?” Luna panted as the magical strain began to affect her. Celestia quickly thought of ways to get her message across. Finally her eyes shone with an answer. She rested a hoof on her forehead and guided magic to her thoughts. With some effort, a book began to appear outside of her memories of the worlds. She neatly ended the spell with a spell matrix that copied the book into five more. The six copies floated towards each pony. “These contain the information that you’ll need. I’m sorry that we’re forced to send you out like this...but I think that...you’ll be okay and...you six are...” *** The void shattered into a thousand pieces and the Element Bearers were too late in their attempt to grab on to each other. They just saw each other get sucked into the blackness of existence. Twilight finally was sucked into it and was hit by the most colorful images she ever saw. Her mind began to shut down as it accommodated the new form that she was transforming into. Her horn disappeared and transformed into a tattoo that covered her arms in a repeating pattern of six pointed stars. Her wings stayed and became six feet long and they tied directly into her magical reserves. She unconsciously flapped her wings and had liftoff. She felt a wind brush against her face and sounds came back into her mind. Birds chirped, twigs broke, and water slashed as she landed hard on her side. Pain shot through her and she cringed. The sensation was a new one and she couldn’t take it. Before she blacked out she heard a voice that was unfamiliar. “What do we have here?” a boyish voice chuckled as he grabbed Twilight under her arms and brought her to her feet. With a push, he made her begin to walk towards an unknown location. Twilight heard a feminine voice joke with her savior. “Dagr, you know what it is. She must be an Aetherian, but with the wings it could be a toss up in regards to her usefulness. Its the Starfall. Now if we knew where Skinfaxi and Hrimfaxi are it would make me hopeful.” “We work with what we have, Nótt.” Twilight felt her weight shift and a heat began to emanate from the colt. “I’ve alerted the Valkyries that we’ve found something. Let’s make ourselves comfortable until they arrive.” Twilight felt a nudge on her arm. “Hey, Aetherian say hello to the planet of Yggdrasil.” *** Angelus Fluttershy had no idea where she was. The flora and the fauna were too strange to classify. She knew she wasn’t dreaming because when she landed on her new legs she cut one of them badly on some sharp rocks. Now she was limping through a town that had no people in it. The water seemed to be blood-red and lifeless. The only sound that she heard was a warning about something that made no sense. “This is the Britannian Military saying that any Britannian citizens should take cover. We have seen a large Angel. Our Eva units will take care of this menace. Any and all people that hear this are tasked to go to the closest shelter and wait for further instructions.” Fluttershy limped on towards the center of town to find some bandages. Her wings flapped carefully as her hands tried to staunch the flow of blood. *** Noctus Rainbow Dash fell into chaos. The last thing she completely remembered was being trapped by a mob of zombies. She had felt fear again as she began to see her life flash before her eyes. Her mind was blank on her family which unnerved Rainbow, her friends who she trusted completely, and her dreams that might never come true. She ran towards an empty shack and was ready to barricade herself in the house, but she couldn’t find any furniture. She cursed her luck as the door was smashed to pieces and the undead grabbed her. She waited for her death to come. It didn’t. She glanced around and saw a man staring at her. “Why hello there. I am sorry for my minions. They just seem to scare my prey away whenever they appear.” He grinned and two large fangs appeared. He slowly walked towards Dash. “They were attracted to your...purity...” Dash whitened when she heard that. “You got the wrong pon-person, yeah I am totally not pure. I mean it’s not like I’m saving myself for anybody.” Dash glanced around to find a weapon but the man leapt towards her and, before she could react, grabbed her. He angled her so her carotid artery would be easy to bite into and was ready to suck out all of her blood. The vampire stopped when a man in a red trench coat waltzed in. “My my, this was a definite pain to get here. You better let that pretty girl out.” The cocky attitude of the man surprised Dash and she squirmed to see if the vampire loosened its grip on her. “Oh yeah? You and what army? I control this little town and you are just one man.” The man laughed at this. “I’m Alucard. A true vampire. Not your imitation of one.” With that, he pulled a gun that surprised Dash by how huge it was. “Hey priest, I dealt with one of you before. I’m not worried about what your God does.” The priest vampire pointed at Alucard. “Ghouls, kill him!” The ghouls pulled their weapons out and began to shoot bullets at the vampire. All the bullets hit their marks and Alucard fell over dead. Or that’s what it appeared like to Dash. “Hahaha.” Dash noticed smoke coming off of Alucard as he rose to his feet. She saw his skin knit together as he walked towards his prey. He inclined his head towards the rainbow-haired human. “Hey, Acid Trip, do you want to live?” “What did you just call me?” “Answer the question: Do you or do you not want to live. Because if you say no...let’s just say that he won’t be as nice as I can be in fair treatment. You can ask my police girl if you survive.” She mulled the question over. If I do say yes, I don’t know what’ll happen. But if I don’t I have to deal with this creepy priest. “Okay.” “This might hurt a little. I need to aim somewhere that might kill you.” Before Dash could react, Alucard pulled out his gun and shot a bullet straight through Rainbow Dash’s chest. It exited her body and hit the vampire directly in the heart. The ghouls stopped moving and all exploded into piles of dust. What the buck was that? Dash stared up at the vampire standing over her and weakly attempted to say something. Alucard looked over the damage his gun caused the girl and coolly explained her predicament. “I know that you are probably asking what I’m going to do now. I will complete my side of the bargain...” Dash’s eyes widened when she saw his teeth aim themselves towards her neck and everything began to feel okay once he punctured her skin. "Flutter...shy." *** Noctus- Miskatonic University Rarity woke up outside. After picking herself up and spending the required time grooming herself into a presentable state, she looked around. She had no idea where she was and from the local attire she was in a old time fashion show. The close to knee length skirts on the women, the men dressed in suits, and the children actually wearing clothes were breaths of fresh air, even if they were horribly out of date. She noticed a sign right next to her. It gave her an idea of where she was in this place. A certain Miskatonic University. It was no Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but it looked respectable. She felt like the doors drew her towards answers and she shouldered her bag containing the book that Celestia gave her and walked into the school. I guess I could bluff my way into this establishment. *** Halcyon Applejack woke up when she felt the prodding of some strange contraption on her stomach. She lazily opened an eye and was shocked awake when she saw what woke her up. A machine-like thing that looked like those legends of humans that Granny Smith liked to talk about was staring directly into her face. When it began to speak, she noticed that it wasn’t talking directly to her but to some unknown thing that wanted her medical info. “Medical Log: Stardate 2346.19. The discovery of a creature that has characteristics that baffle the scientists of Halcyon has come to Starfleet Medical to assess the candidate for acquisition by Starfleet Command to be sent into the cadet program. Beginning physical.” The robot began scanning her vital signs as Applejack continued to squirm. It’s probing continued to creep her out and its soulless eyes kept her on edge. Applejack finally noticed that she wasn’t her pony self any longer. She flexed her new-found hands and ran her fingers through her hair. Well this is new. “Subject is close to peak physical strength for a humanoid female. Still unknown on why she possesses a brain function for the fantastical and strange phenomenon known as magic. She might be a subtype of the sentient life on Yggdrasil. Unknown which type she could be since the tests that were created to separate the races on that planet is outside my programming...” Applejack groaned as the robot continued to spout mumbo jumbo that just confuzzled the farmer. She just began to think of less boring things, such as farming. *** Magistrum Pinkie knew she had a problem. Using her Pinkie Sense, she felt that she was nowhere near her friends and she had her greatest challenge yet. School. Pinkie looked around at the wonder of the world. All the high spires of the buildings, the huge buildings, the fun outside spaces, the list went on and on. Finally after a test drive of her new body, she skipped into school. Her school uniform that she had woke up wearing gave her a free pass into the building. This is gonna be so fun! *** The Outer Realms “Our enemies have broken the constraints on their containment field and, with some of my urging, some kinks in their plans will start emerging...Dread Father.” Nyarlathotep stood in inky blackness. His human form was waiting for further instruction from his father. He was ready to spread the word of original chaos; the chaos that had begun a spark that had created these worlds of light by a complete and utter accident. After that debacle, the new mission of the Elder Gods was created. Trick the humans into causing their own mass extinction. An unearthly wail broke the blackness. The Messenger of the Elder Gods smirked. “Yes father, those new entrants into our little feud with the Aesir will be dealt with through the cults that you, in your infinite wisdom, created to influence those weak-willed puppets.” The creature that ruled the eldritch beings felt this was sufficient and retreated back to his demonic chambers. His servants followed him in a grotesque display of slavish devotion. Nyarlathotep felt a tinge of shame. His demonic father had weakened in his eyes after the last war. He felt cheated, his own father had decided in his feeble state to keep ruling over his holdings and keep his chaos contained in this dimension of formlessness. Even though his father was the primordial chaos. Nyarlathotep felt like he could do it better. “My dearest father, you shouldn't have given me the Messenger position. You are trapped outside the human realm while I spread my influence and power across all the worlds. I hope you like the last few years of your reign, father...” *** The clock of fate began its steady ticking towards the date of Ragnarok. The beginning was unknowable and could just be gleaned by the portents. The others had already passed: the creation of the worlds, the seeding of life by an Elder Race predating the others by hundreds of millions of years, the Schism and the sealing of Equestria and the subsequent Starfall when the inhabitants reappear. Now the future was a blank slate that the Element Bearers could began to change because- for once- there was free will.