Ponystuck

by confoundtheseponies

Chapter 41

This is a world that has ended. Nothing is born; nothing dies. Even time does not exist. There is a pony in a world like this. She lives alone in a world that has ended. The pony who lives in a vacant, unmoving world. The pony's life is a lonely one. No one over than her exists. This is a given, since nothing is born and nothing dies. That's the kind of world this is.

The pony has made a body out of metal and scrap that she has found while wandering this lonely world. It is a body made to be her friend. Her only friend, in this vast and lonely world. All she needs is for a soul to wish to be with her in that vast, empty world.

One day, the wish was made, and her friend was born into this empty, dead world. Because it was made of scrap, it could not speak to the pony, but she still cared for it. Her friend was happy to be in the world, with the pony, but it had memories of another world. A better world where there were many more friends. It believed that it, too, had once been a pony. A pink pony who had many friends in the other world.

Maybe, it thought, maybe one day it could go back to that world with its new friend, and take her away from this lonely, empty world.

"Diamond," Silver said, taking her place at one end of the vast stadium that the two ponies found themselves in.

"Silver," Diamond replied, as the two ponies stood opposite each other. On each of their legs was a strange device on which a small deck of cards was balanced. Neither of them knew how or why, but they both knew exactly what it was. They also knew exactly what they were here to do. "I suppose you know what happened for us to end up here?"

"Golden did something crazy without thinking," Silver said dismissively. "As a result, everything's a bit messed up." She smiled. "Right before he did that, you died on your quest bed, right?"

"Yeah." Diamond sighed. "And now the outcome of that will be decided, will it?"

"Who knows if that's what this is about," Silver said, rising up and magically lifting five cards from the top of her deck. "Either way, you know what time it is, don't you?" Diamond nodded, grinning.

"Duel!"

"Remind me why we're doing this, again," Kyon said in a bored voice, while Summer charged ahead, Mikuru in tow.

"Because," she began to explain, although none of her friends expected to be any wiser by the end of her explanation. "I have a feeling that we should."

"Ah, I see," Kyon nodded sagely. "Now it all makes sense."

"Quiet," Summer said.

"Ugyuu~" Mikuru whimpered, as Summer dragged her along by her hoof. In the distance, something beckoned to her.

"Say, do you know what a railgun is?" The mysterious pony with the short brown mane asked, as she took a few steps towards Comet.

"I have a feeling I'm not going to like it," he said in the manner of one who is already resigned to his fate. "Ever since I came to this city it seems like I've had nothing but bad luck." It was true, almost immediately after finding himself in this strange place fill with giant skyscrapers and wind turbines, he had run into misfortune after misfortune. He had no idea where he had been before, but it felt like it was important. Not that it had mattered to anyone he had tried explaining this to. After finally escaping from an angry mob by running all the way out to the large bridge where he now found himself, he had thought that perhaps he could catch his breath at last. That had been when this short tempered unicorn had made an appearance. Comet had no idea who she was, but it was clear that she hated him passionately for one reason or another.

"The idea behind it is the same as a linear motor train. It's a weapon that uses powerful electromagnets to fire a metal projectile, and is usually used on warships..." From somewhere, the pony brought out a small metal coin, which was odd since she wasn't wearing anything that it could have been kept in. The word 'sylladex' drifted through Comet's mind, but nothing came of it and it promptly vanished again. He was much more concerned with what was happening in front of him. As the unicorn flipped the coin into the air, visible arcs of electricity gathered around her, her mane flicking violently in response to the small storm she was creating. "It refers to something rather like this."

With that, the coin fell in front of her, and was instantly sent careering towards Comet with a bright orange light that tore a visible trail through the air itself, narrowly missing his head and forming a large gash in the surface of the road a fair distance behind him.

"With something as small as a coin it just melts away after 50 metres due to friction. It would have more range with something larger, but this is plenty for now." She smiled widely, baring her teeth menacingly.

"I don't know what I've done to upset you," Comet said carefully, now thoroughly terrified of the filly that was at least two years younger than him. "But I'm really not sure what's going on. I don't even know where I am. I have to-" Another shot from the railgun silenced him, this time burying itself into the bridge at his feet.

"Are you thinking I'm not very good at aiming my railgun?" The pony said smugly. "Or that you're getting lucky? Just for your information, I have an accuracy of 18.9mm. Don't even think for a minute that the next shot is going anywhere other than your heart."

"Why are you so angry with me!?" Comet shouted, starting to get annoyed with her attitude. "I've never even met you before!"

"Man, you're annoying," she said, flipping another coin into the air despite Comet's continued protests. "My name's Misaka, by the way. Misaka Mikoto. I thought you should at least know my name, since you're going to die now." With that, she fired again, sending a small arcade coin racing towards Comet at three times the speed of sound.

That was when Comet did his Timey thing. The passage of time around the railgun began to slow, even as the coin drew closer and closer to Comet impossibly quickly. Even slower, until it was at a standstill, the coin mere inches from his face. And then, the railgun began to run backwards, accelerating away from him quicker and quicker, before he relinquished his influence and allowed the projectile to continue straight towards a startled Mikoto. She lashed out again with her electricity, and the entire structure of the bridge itself twisted and buckled towards her, forming a shield into which the railgun exploded.

Emerging from the smoke coughing and bruised, Mikoto stared at Comet in confusion and fear, while the Page of Time smiled thinly. That was right; he was the Page of Time. And he wasn't meant to be here, wherever that was. He had to get back to everyone else. First, though...

"Well, Misaka Mikoto, I guess you could say that was either misfortune or you're just unlucky..." He stepped forwards, and even that was enough to make Mikoto jump back in fear. "But this really isn't your lucky day."

Neither pony could explain how they knew the rules to this strange game, or why they felt the need to act in such an overly dramatic fashion, but that hardly seemed an important detail at that point.

"Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan, attack her monster!" Diamond yelled, as the magical projection of her playing card leapt forwards towards the card which Silver had left face down. A second before the attack connected, Diamond could have sworn that Silver was smiling, but by that point it was too late. Diamond cried out, as her own life force seemed to lessen. A small box appeared next to her displaying 4000, which quickly decreased to 3800, as Silver's face-down monster was revealed to be a Venom Cobra. "Damn it..." Diamond swore, while her monster returned to her side. There was no sense attacking with her other monster, because it was also too weak to defeat the cobra.

"Are you quite finished?" Silver asked, drawing another card gleefully. "I activate Venom Swamp!" As she placed the card onto the device on her arm, the stadium they were in disappeared, to be replaced with a dim, murky swamp. Nightmarish horrors slithered just outside of Diamond's field of vision, and a hazy mist blurred the field. "At the end of each turn, every monster besides 'Venom' monsters gain a counter which reduces their attack by 500," Silver announced smugly. "Now, I summon Venom Serpent!" A large green snake appeared, with a small message alongside it that identified its 1000 attack points. "I activate Venom Serpent's effect, and place one venom counter onto Kizan." Then, one of her set cards flipped over. "Now I active Ultimate Offering, paying 500 life points to sacrifice Venom Cobra, to summon Venom Boa!" An enormous blue snake appeared, although for its size it only had 1600 attack points. "And I use its effect to place two more counters onto Kizan, although it's unable to attack if I do so."

"Damn it again," Diamond said as Kizan's attack decreased to 300. "But at least-" she cut off, as Silver ended her turn. Another counter was placed onto her monster, whose attack reached 0, and she sighed in despair as Kizan fell into the swamp and was destroyed. "Damn it, damn it, damn it."

"What's wrong?" Silver called mockingly. "It's your move."

"What do you want?" The voice went ignored, as Twilight was still struggling to take in the sight before her eyes. "And how did you get in here? The gate was locked."

"So... so many..." Twilight breathed, unable to take in everything at once. "There are so many books!" The mare in front of her coughed, and Twilight jumped back as she noticed her for the first time. She had a long purple mane, and was wearing a purple cap adorned with moons and stars.

"Well, there would be. This is a library, you know," the mare sighed. "A private library, at that. Please leave, before I call the maid." She picked up a small card inscribed with runes. "Or I may just deal with you myself." It occurred to Twilight that she really ought to be figuring out where she was and what was going on. What had she been doing before this?

"Uh, wait a minute! I'm... I'm not really sure what's happening here..." she looked around for any indication of what was happening. "How did I get here?"

"That's what I want to know. Honestly, I don't know why we even have a guard if she just lets anyone waltz in as if they own the place," shaking her head, the mare's expression became serious. "I'm sure you can find out everything you need to know. Somewhere else. So kindly remove yourself from my library before I do it for you."

"Wait a minute!" Twilight said, racking her brains for anything that might help. "I'm, uh... I'm trying to find the centre of the Paradox Loop!" The mare froze, frowning at the mention of a paradox loop. Catching her breath, Twilight wondered what a Paradox Loop was, and why she wanted to find the centre of it. It seemed very important, for some reason.

"... follow me," the mare said quietly, turning on the spot and marching into the darkness. "By the way," she added, as Twilight clumsily stumbled after her, "My name is Knowledge. Patchouli Knowledge."

"Right then, how do you like this?" Diamond asked confidently. She now had three monsters, and had managed to remove the swamp. "I'd say I've finally got the upper hand in this duel."

"Finish your turn before you start getting cocky," Silver said.

"In that case... Legendary Six Samurai - Kizan, attack Venom Boa!" Diamond cried, almost instantly regretting giving Silver the chance to smile evilly.

"I activate my trap," she said happily, "Negate Attack! But it doesn't just end this fight; it also ends the entire battle phase."

"..." Diamond said angrily. "Well, there's still one more thing I can do." She threw down another card. "I activate Six Scrolls of the Samurai, and sacrifice Six Samurai - Nisashi and Legendary Six Samurai - Mizuho to special summon Great Shogun Shien!" Finally, one of her trump cards appeared, with all its 2500 attack points. "Your move, Silver."

"Hey, hey, Azu-nyan," Yui whispered loudly, not taking her eyes for a minute off of the strange pony that had suddenly appeared in the club room. "Who's that?"

"I don't know," Azusa replied. "... maybe we should make some tea?" Nodding silently, Yui set about pouring a cup of tea and cutting a slice of cake, without taking her eyes away from the guest for even a moment. Mild Darkness watched this scene from his chair, and sighed wearily.

"Someone kill me now," he moaned.

"Hmm...." The young filly peered intently at Twilight, who was beginning to feel rather unnerved. "So she claims to be from a different universe, except she's not entirely sure why, or where it is, or what she was doing there," the filly summarised. "Sounds like a load of rubbish if you ask me. Amusing though it is."

"Did you want to let her know about this?" Patchouli asked, in a way that suggested to Twilight that she didn't want her to know about it, whoever that was.

"Of course I don't," the filly said haughtily. "The last thing I want to do is make her job any easier." She looked Twilight up and down. "Feel free to keep her, if you want. Otherwise just kick her out, I don't care."

"She won't like that, Remi," Patchouli said with a sigh, looking at Twilight with concern. "If... if half of the things she told us is true then we need to get this girl out of here as quickly as possible. The last thing I need is for us to get caught up in another mess."

"Luckily for us, then," the filly said, "almost none of the things that gap hag says are true." She sighed. "Whatever. If you want to tell her about it then that's your call. I don't care about this other universe nonsense." With that, she trotted off, her tiny bat-like wings flapping cutely but pointlessly behind her.

"Uh..." Twilight began, once the curious filly had left the room. "So, what's going on?"

"Just before you came, we had a visitor," Patchouli said, leading Twilight out of the room and through the mansion. "Warning about a couple of nasty gaps opening up that none of us wanted anything to do with. But she can't close them, apparently. This, if it’s true, is very bad news for us."

"Gaps? Gaps in what?"

"Who knows? All that matters is that you're what fell out of it. And if we put you back in then maybe we can get things tidied up neatly, and no one will need to get kicked in the face by a miko hyped up on poverty-fuelled resentment." With that curious remark, Patchouli doubled her pace, with Twilight struggling to keep up after her.

"Is that kind of thing likely to happen?" Twilight asked brightly. Patchouli shot her a glare.

"Oh, yes, that's pretty standard around here."

"I don't suppose we're nearly there," Kyon moaned. Summer ignored him. She wasn't entirely sure why these ponies were following her in the first place. She had been minding her own business in the afterlife with Destiny and Applejack when everything had suddenly gone to hell. Or at least, to a high school in Neighpon where she was apparently in charge of a club. It wasn't like she had anything better to do, being dead and all, but something about it struck her as odd.

"Just a little further," she lied. In truth she didn't have a clue why she was dragging everyone around the city with her, but she knew that there was something she had to get to. Behind her, Kyon was muttering with Koizumi.

"Hey, do you know what this is all about?" Koizumi smiled in his condescending way.

"I wouldn't hazard a guess as to what she's thinking. But on the other side of the city, there is a gap between worlds. I believe that she may be attracted towards it, somehow." His face darkened. "My people are working to close it before she gets there, but in theory she should be unable to detect it."

"... in any case, shouldn't we be stopping her?" Kyon asked. "If she doesn't even know why she's going there..."

"No, I don't believe we should," Koizumi said. "If there is some connection between her and the gap, perhaps it would be better for them to be brought together."

"But, if she finds out-"

"Which is why you're here," Koizumi reminded him. "So that she does not find out."

"Great," Kyon said dryly. "Just great."

"That thing was a dragon!" The pony who had untied Ember cried, as they and several other ponies huddled inside the tower while cries of fear and the noise of collapsing houses echoed around them. "Just like the stories and the legends!"

"Legends don't burn down villages," another pony said, as he eyed Ember with suspicion. Frankly, Ember could care less what he thought of him. All he was concerned with was exactly what was going on. Where was he, and why were all these ponies he'd never seen before trying to kill him? It made him want to grab his warhammer out of his strife specibus and hit something, if only he could remember what a strife specibus was.
-
"Where is this?" Ember found himself asking, earning him strange looks from the other two ponies. The one who had untied him replied first.

"This is Helgen," he said. "In the south of Skyrim." Ember nodded.

"OK, so... what planet is this? The Land of Dragons and Vikings?" He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling that all planets were named like that for some reason. The two ponies exchanged worried glances.

"You.. you didn't hurt your head on the way into the tower, did you?"

"No, but I feel like I've forgotten something important," Ember said worriedly. "Kind of like... I was somewhere else, doing something really vital to everything."

"You can think about it after we get out of here," the older of the two ponies said. "Let's go!" Nodding, Ember rushed up the stairs of the tower with the others close behind. Outside, the dragon continued to roar.

There was nothing in this place. And yet, the air was malicious, thick and evil. The place where unseen horrors and fears of nothing at all gathered, or so it would seem to those who entered unprepared. In truth, it was difficult to say exactly what made up this world. It could only be reached through high-level spatial manipulation - or by the convenient back door that a certain youkai had left for her servants to use. In the centre of this maelstrom of emptiness sat Celestia, who contemplated the world around her with vague disgust. She wouldn't have minded the atmosphere, had there been anything else to do. But no matter what, she couldn't get away from the feeling that she was being watched. At that moment, a small yellow pony wearing a silly hat approached her.

"Um... we've had word from the mansion," Ran reported astutely. Celestia raised an eyebrow at her entrance, but said nothing. "They've found one of the ponies you warned them about."

"Oh, good," Celestia said, getting to her feet and picking up her parasol. "I was beginning to get bored of waiting. Well, shall we?" A large gap opened in space, and with a quick nod the two ponies leapt through it into the world beyond.

"If you finish this next test, I might let you ride an elevator all the way up to the break room, and I'll tell you about the time I saw the deer again." The speakers cut out, and Acapella was once again in quiet, clinical silence. How had this happened, exactly? Things had been going so well, but now she was back again, testing, just like before.

Or was she? She wasn't really certain if she had done any testing before this. It felt like she had been elsewhere, doing something else. But then, it was hard to be certain of anything in here. Her sense of the passage of time was slowed, and there wasn't much she could do to keep track of how many puzzles she had solved already. All she could think to do was to keep going to the next one, until they were all done. Not that they would ever be done.

Sighing wearily, she picked up a nearby weighted storage cube and busily set about her latest challenge.

Summer paused uncertainly, staring blankly at the road in front of her without really taking it in. The others stood behind her, more than a little concerned.

"What's she doing now?" Kyon whispered.

"She has found the gap," Koizumi replied. "Whether she is aware of it, I can't say for certain."

"Hmm," Summer murmured thoughtfully, taking another step forwards. She'd had the strangest feeling that coming to this place would bring her back to the others, but there was nothing to be seen. The air in front of her shimmered. She took another step.

"And you're sure we should be just sitting here?" Kyon asked, becoming increasingly agitated. "... Hey, Koizumi!" Another step, and it was too late. The gap, invisible to all of them, opened up as Summer stepped over the boundary, falling through it into a space far beyond. She didn't have time to scream out, as the gap snapped shut behind her. "... uh..."

In front of them, Haruhi stood blinking in confusion. She tilted her head to the side.

"What are you all staring at?"

"I don't see why you're dragging me around town with you," Mikoto complained, as she and Comet wandered the streets of Academy City. "I have better things to be doing than helping an idiot like you, you know."

"I never told you to follow me," Comet said bluntly. "Feel free to zap off home, if you like."

"Za- are you making fun of me!?" Mikoto roared, attracting the attention of most of the ponies in the street. "I... I'm one of the most powerful unicorns in the city, you know!"

"Oh, is that so?" Comet said. "Would you care to try again?" His eyes narrowed for a moment, and Mikoto jumped backwards. "Didn't think so."

"Well... anyway! You can't just run off like this! Where are you even going," Mikoto continued as she ran after him, "and why do you have to wear those stupid clothes?" Comet stopped in surprise, looking down at the Page robes he was now wearing.

"I can't afford to forget who I am now that I've remembered," he said. "I don't know what happened, but I need to get back." Pausing and looking around to get his bearings, he spied a large, windowless building in the gap between two skyscrapers. "That place over there looks like a good start," he said, running off towards the building, while Mikoto grumpily ran after him.

"What? You can't just- hey, wait!"

"I choose you!" Destiny yelled, throwing her pokéball through the air dramatically. It popped open, and a blazing white light leapt out of the sphere onto the ground. It reformed into a definite shape, and faded away into a solid creature. "I... wait, what?" In front of her, Summer was looking back in surprise.

"Oh hell no," Summer said. "Rejected." Walking over to Destiny, she knocked her on the head. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

"E-what? Hold on just a-" Destiny began, as Summer grabbed her leg and dragged her away. "Where are we going?" Behind her, the trainer she had been battling stood in confusion.

"The banana's gone!" Star Swirl cried gleefully as he bounced around the microwave, much to Luna's annoyance. "But... where?" He span on the spot, freezing as he saw the table behind him. The bunch of bananas still sat there, but now the single fruit which had been torn off was reattached, and now made entirely of green jelly. "Aha! You see!?" He glared at Luna meaningfully. She sighed.

"Before you say anything; it's not a time machine. I refuse to believe that."

"Oh come on," Star Swirl pleaded. "What do I have to do to convince you? Do you have any other explanation for all this?" Luna paused, while Star Swirl waited patiently. "... well?"

"Uh, that's, well... hey, where are you going?" Star Swirl was at the entrance to the lab, about to run out of the door. He paused in the hallway and looked back at her dramatically, his long white lab coat fluttering behind him.

"I'm going to buy some more bananas," he announced, before charging out of the FGL, leaving behind a rather dazed Luna and a gel banana.

"You once said I could become a really amazing unicorn... was that true?" Fluttershy asked quietly, as Angel hopped up onto the bench next to her.

"That's an understatement," the rabbit said in its usual expressionless tone, its mouth remaining sealed while it stared up at Fluttershy with its unmoving eyes. "You'd become a magical pony of unbelievable power. Probably the strongest in the world."

"If... If I had accepted your offer in the first place," Fluttershy said thoughtfully, "I wonder if Applejack would have become a unicorn..."

"She made her own wish come true," Angel said. "That's got nothing to do with you." The two sat quietly, while Fluttershy recalled the tears in Applejack's eyes. "You know," Angel added, "your power is so great that it might be possible to warp the laws of the Universe itself."

"I thought I had nothing good going for me," Fluttershy said. "I just sat at home with my animals and never spoke to anyone, never being of any use, too scared to do anything. I didn't like it, but I didn't feel like there was anything I could do about it."

"Far from it," Angel said, "you could become an omnipotent god if you wished for it."

"I wonder..." Fluttershy said, "I wonder if I could bring Applejack back to normal."

"I'm sure you could," Angel said. "... Fluttershy, would you offer your own soul for that wish?"

"I..." Fluttershy began, looking down into Angel's impassive eyes. "... I'd do it. I'd become a uni-"

For a moment, time seemed to freeze. An instant later, Rarity stood in front of Fluttershy, while what remained of Angel's limp body - and with it, Fluttershy's last chance to save Applejack - fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Clouds were forming over the distant hills. As the small body made of scrap in which Pinkie resided stared out of the window, she knew that soon winter would be coming. The land would grow cold. She turned and looked at the pony that had made it. She would not feel the cold, but her friend would. Pinkie was worried for her. Perhaps they should try to escape before the winter came, she thought. But, there was nothing except the empty hills. Where could they go?

The clouds drew closer.

3400-900. That was the score, and Diamond was beginning to feel a little bit confident. Silver was on the ropes now, and she had a couple of powerful monsters.

"So, Silver, it looks like this duel is almost over," Diamond said. Silver laughed.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Her eyes darkened as she drew her next card. "I activate Monster Reborn to revive Venom Boa, and summon Venom Snake!" Her two monsters slithered into view, much to Diamond's disgust. "Now, I pay 500 life points to activate Ultimate Offering. I sacrifice Venom Boa and Venom Snake to summon Vennominon, the King of Poisonous Snakes!" A towering cloaked lizard now appeared, an aura of dread emanating from it as Diamond cowered backwards. A small message popped up next to the creature. 3500 attack.

"Oh blimey," Diamond said. "And things were going so well, as well.

"I now activate my trap card, Torrential Tribute!" Silver cried. "This destroys all monsters on the field." And with that, the stadium suddenly exploded into a raging storm of water that obliterated every monster in its way. "And as a result I can activate Rise of the Snake Deity!" Silver added. "When a 'Vennominon' is destroyed by a card effect I can summon my most powerful monster." As the torrent faded away into nothing, an enormous, monstrous serpent with an almost humanoid upper body and terrifying eyes appeared in front of Diamond. "Vennominaga, the Deity of Poisonous Snakes!" A small message appeared next to Vennominaga as well. 4000 attack. "Vennominaga, attack!"

"I activate Call of the Haunted!" Diamond shouted. "And I special summon Shien's Footsoldier from my graveyard!" A tiny little man holding a spear appeared, only to be instantly destroyed. "When Shien's Footsoldier is destroyed by battle, I can special summon another monster from my deck!"

"Oh, really..." Silver said, rather amused by Diamond's efforts. "It's cute how much you struggle, but you can't win now. For your information, Vennominaga cannot be targeted or affected by spell/trap cards, or monster effects. Furthermore, everytime she inflicts battle damage, I can place one Hyper-Venom counter onto her. If I manage to place three Hyper-Venom counters onto the card, then I automatically win the duel."

"You've got to be kidding me..." Diamond groaned.

"Not in the slightest," Silver replied cheerfully. "And now I end my turn. Good luck, for what it's worth."