Kendell2
The angel Starlight Glimmer, the Starlight Glimmer of the Crystal War Timeline to be specific, slashed into one of the abomination's tendrils to distract it from Tabula Rasa. before being batted away. She'd learned many things...but most importantly devotion to the ponies and things that REALLY matter. She was loyal to Rota, to Creation. She wasn't as loyal to Equestria as she should've been, that was what she desired to make up for.
She gasped, looking up to see the shade of Tirek charging up his power. As the beam of pure destruction was unleashed on her, she closed her eyes...then blinked, opening them to find a glimmering force field around her. "What?"
"At last, I've found you..."
Starlight looked up...to see herself.
A full sized Alicorn with a flowing mane that matched her mane color, but as Princess Thalia's mane was genuinely composed of Joy, hers seemed made of Understanding and Empathy.
Her barding was composed of Moonstone, with gems embedded in it. Each Gem contained the image of a sapient life form found on Equus. In the center of her chest barding was an equal sign...but not the black, bare bones equal sign Starlight had placed on others. This one shimmered with the colors of each of the other stones, forming a rainbow.
"Who...who are you?" Crystal War Starlight asked.
The Alicorn smiled, offering a hoof and helping you. "...The last Starlight, and the First...the one who's choice caused all of this..." she said, looking up at Conundrum. "But call me Princess Aequitas. I'm Concept of Equality and Social Fairness...True Equality is understanding everypony is alive as you are. That in the end, the one thing that truly matters more than any difference...is that you're alive..."
She glared up at Conundrum. "I made you, Conundrum...you're hear causing all this damage because I was so vengeful and petty. It's my fault, and I'm here to make up for every moment of it!"
"And so are we..."
Crystal War Starlight looked passed Aequitas...and discovered five other Starlights, each wearing clockwork wings.
A Starlight who devoted herself to helping save the environment she was responsible for destroying, and made plenty of friends in her pursuit to do so.
A Starlight who was willing to give her life in the ultimate sacrifice to allow Nightmare Moon to be defeated.
A Starlight who'd done the best she could to hide ponies from Tirek's rampage, having to take some lessons from Party Favor to keep spirits up despite the horror and disaster being unleashed on the world. It was the best she could've done.
A Starlight who showed Sunset kindness and gratitude for saving it from Discord.
A Starlight who honestly told her past self the truth to help save her from herself.
Amicitia smiled. "...We need all the help we can get."
Tabula nodded, still writing. "My angels! To arms!" she called, leading the six Starlights.
= SAVE The World - Undertale =
Celestia weaved through Conundrum's attacks, getting burns and wounds in the process, and saw the Shadow of her sister, touching horns with her.
---
Celestia opened her eyes in a black void, Nightmare Moon chained before her. "My sister..."
Nightmare Moon snarled. "Don't call me that! You are nothing to me!"
"...Lulu...I'm sorry..."
"No you're not! Why should you always get the praise and glory while I rot alone?!"
"...Was it worth it?"
Nightmare Moon blinked. "What?"
Celestia's horn glowed, showing the desolate wasteland that was now Equestria. "In your pursuit of getting our little ponies to love you..." the mare's eyes teared up. "You became a part of the thing that...that destroyed them...and in my pursuit of saving them so did I..."
Nightmare Moon backpedaled. Her core, the cause of her transformation shuddered.
"Was it worth becoming that for praise?...Because nothing is worth what we've lost to me..."
"I...I..."
Celestia walked over to Luna and hugged her. "Come back to me Lulu...let's both make up for what we helped do..."
---
Conundrum body shuddered and it roared out as Luna's shadow stabilized and fell away, sobbing as her sister hugged her.
Alex Warlorn
Somewhere in this mass of possible villains who had destroyed the world were versions of the mane six who did not turn evil, but were so corrupt that they were the ponies who had become the Elements of Harmony in only name and superficial traits in the potential destruction of the Ponies and Zebra destroying each other. A Celestia who gave up the throne when a misunderstanding led to a bloodbath making a terrible war even worse. A Luna who hadn't taken the time to learn how the world had changed. A Twilight Sparkle whose Alicornification research led to the creation of monsters. An Applejack who created war machines. Pinkie Pie becoming a drug addict. A Fluttershy who gave super weapons to the opposite side hoping it would scare everyone into making peace with the opposite result. A Rarity who spread propaganda against zebra. And Rainbow Dash's good intentions also trigger death and destruction 200 years after her death! All in all, if these were supposed to be Twilight and her friends and still being true to themselves...Twilight Sparkle was a mule.
But there were so many shadows-who-watch who clung to the idea that yes, every single horrible thing they'd done was completely in character (which saddened Amicitia to degrees she didn't think possible). She had no idea how to even approach such twisted versions of her and her friends.
"Adagio...you and your sisters? All that's happened, was it really worth it?" The spirit of friendship itself asked the mutated seaponies inside the mass of monsters. "The world is dead, everything is gone, you have nothing left."
"YES IT WAS!" Adagio roared back. "We were worshipped! We were loved! We were goddesses to our fans! But as soon as the world was destroyed, we were blamed, even if all we did was sing a few songs in support of it! Our beauty was stolen from us! Our lives were stolen! Our fame! Our wealth! Two of our sisters! No one asked us to become parasites who feed on hatred. PONIES DESERVED THIS! THE WORLD DESERVED THIS!!!"
Kendell2
Conundrum seemed to realize this was the case and summoned the corrupted barriers within it's form, Amicitia's eyes went wide, remembering her own past as Eclipse as they began to charge the Elements.
Mirror looked to Amicitia. "..."
She then dove and put her horn to that Fluttershy and entered.
---
The Nightmare of Cruel Truth arrived in the shadow of that Fluttershy.
She said nothing, she simply spread her wings and showed her something.
---
Amicitia gasped as the shadow dissolved, the shadow breaking off...and instead of forming into Fluttershy, breaking off and fading, becoming one with the Fluttershy who was Princess Gaia. "Mirror, what did you do?!"
"Simple: two of the same pony can't exist in the same world at the same time. That's a hard and fast rule, Twilight," Mirror said, looking her in the eyes. "Ah showed her that Fluttershy's doin', and she decided that Fluttershy's fate was the better one. So now that IS Fluttershy's concrete fate."
The Alicorn of Magic looked sad. "...You're right...Do it..."
Veritas was the one to dive in this time, Mirror using her reflective wings to defend her from touching her war machine maker self's head with her horn.
---
In the depths of the Nightmare, an Applejack was bound by chains.
Veritas spread her wings.
---
The Applejack dissolved, shadow breaking off and merged with Veritas.
Nightmare Conundrum roared in pain, convulsing.
"What happened?" Celestia questioned.
The shades of those versions of Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash rose out of Conundrum, glowing.
Veritas smirked. "Simple! Ah fused with that Applejack! Meanin' meh becoming Mirror was the real outcome! So Nightmare Mirror came tah be while Fluttershy became the 'Savior of Life' Princess Gaia! That means instead of lettin' the war happen, there was a Nightmare of Truth instead of a weapon maker and Fluttershy made her life sanctuary instead of handing doomsday spells to the enemy! No Nightmare of Truth would let misunderstandings and stupidity lead tah holocaust and no Fluttershy tah give 'em those spells means the bombs never COULD drop!"
She and Mirror spread her wings.
Nythy roared. "But that means..."
"That future is no longer possible!"
The four shadows dissolved, their shadows splitting off and seeming to slink off to the side, waiting for themselves to gain a concrete fate to join with.
Conundrum roared out in absolute fury. "MINE! MINE!"
It spun around, generating a tornado of lightning and thunder using Bahamut's power, forcing it's opponents to defend themselves from the wind.
"Okay, THAT seems to have angered it," said Luna remarked.
MtangaLion
All the while, Tabula Rasa kept writing in her book. It wasn't just nature now...civilization and the mortal races were starting to flicker back into being. Her angels floated in a rainbow of magical auras, guiding the world-split to come. Tabula smiled grimly and nodded, fangs gleaming. "Good. That possible doom is severed...but another comes."
Nightmare Conundrum writhed again, and the shadow of Discord emerged, wrapped in dark chains and looming over the battle. "Well, now this is unexpected. Me, burning a world to ash? Then again, I *am* Destruction as well. I suppose when one finally grows bored enough of one's toys..."
Princess Gaia teleported to the battlefield, Stare at the ready. "You don't have to do it, Discord! There's no reason to be so mean!"
But Fluttercruel darted out in front of her, getting right in Discord's face. "Hello, *Pops*. It'd be nice if I could say I was sorry to see you like this...but really, I'm not." The thestral plucked a strand of her own hair and focused her latent power, transforming it into a long, barbed sword. "Why don't I just put you out of your misery right now?!"
Gaia froze up. She and Amicitia tried to rush in and pull her back, but a simple wave of Discord's lion paw warped the space around Fluttercruel, keeping them away.
"Really, dear...your own father? Fine, stab me in the heart. Drink your fill of Fear, Chaos, and Destruction. That would be the cruel thing to do." Discord scratched his goatee. "Or is it the merciful thing?"
The sword trembled in Fluttercruel's hooves. "You just couldn't resist, could you? One last chance to mess with my head. Mercy?! Was there ever a chance I'd be more than what you made me, in the end?" She gritted her fangs, manifesting her Element of Kindness. "Was *this* ever more than just some cosmic joke?"
Shadows of Existence started swirling around her...ponies broken by Discord...ponies warped into chaos monsters by Discord...ponies who became his friend...empty fillies who had called Discord father...fillies brought back to the light who called him uncle...more and more shadows waiting for Fluttercruel to swallow them up and claim her birthright.
Discord sighed then, seeming immensely old. "A word of advice, my dear. None of us have a say in how we're born...but you can choose what you grow up to be."
Outside the barrier, Celestia could only stare. "Whose side does he think he's on?"
Luna nudged her sister. "Ever did Dissy have confounding depths. Let us pray Fluttercruel makes the right choice, even if we know not what the right choice may be!"
Alex Warlorn
Nyarlathotrot mockingly asked. "So...how do you plan to fix things? Truly? This thing is composed of monsters who have no interest in breaking away from it...They can't all be true. There's an infinite mix of them in there, there will always be another villain who at the right place, at the right time could have ended all this, or a hero at the wrong place at the wrong time, doing all the wrong things for the right reason. This timeline is going to collapse. You can't save it Princess Twilight Sparkle. Face realty. You're going to lose. No matter how many you cut out of that thing, there will be more, and they keep contradicting each other. And yet this thing is needed for time to survive anyway. All I have to do is sit back and watch the fireworks."
Persona22
Another concept suddenly poofed into existance. "Perhaps I can assist with that!"
Everyone present turned to look, some recognized her and some didn't. Those that did recognize her had different reactions, going from surpirsed, to annoyed, to happy, to worried.
Waving happily at them was Chance, the draconnequs of Luck, watcher of possibilities.
Amticia and Deus remembered her when she helped as Alicorn Starlight was becoming a nightmare. "Chance? What are you doing here?" asked Amiticia, "HOW! Can you be here! This place should make you sick from how unstable it is!"
"It is. But you all made it stable enough for me to come here, but for a moment, every time you stabilize it the timeline just becomes unstable again. So I'll try to make it quick."
Chance looked at Discord and smiled sadly, "Hello Dizzy...sorry I killed you that one time."
Discord smiled, "It's okay sister, it was another Discord."
Chance walked over to Amiticia, she snapped her fingers and a bag full of coins appeared. The bag was decorated with an infiniy symbol on its side. Chance handed the bag over to Amiticia.
"Nyarlathotrot is right. But he's also giving you the answer to your problem. This timeline, by itself, cannot exists. But it can exists as multiple timelines. Infinite possible pasts, means infinite possible futures. Infinite causes means just infinite effects. If I were to toss a thousand coins, then a thousand coins will land. But while in the air, all the coins are both heads and tails at the same time, all of them both are true and false, both are and aren't. Nightmare Conondrum is just that, several coins in the air. You need to let them go their separate ways every time they land." explained Chance.
Amiticia's eyes opened wide with understanding, "Of course! It's so simple!"
Chance handed over the infinite bag of coins to Amiticia, "I can't remain here for long to do it for you. So here's a bag of coins, they will last until you finish."
Amticia, "Thank you Chance. But what exactly do we do with it?"
Chance opened the bag of coins and took one out, she walked over to Veritas and gave it to her.
"Just flip it. Before it lands, you will be in the timeline where you are true, and the rest are false." explained Chance.
"Can it land on a bad luck result?" asked Veritas.
"Yes. You will have to trusts that the versions of your friends in that timeline are able to help you. That's what taking a chance means, placing trust in things and people outside of your control." replied Chance.
Veritas nodded, "I see. I will. Thank you Chance."
"No, thank you. Even if I know you are not the same Veritas I know." replied Chance.
Veritas smiled, "May the odds be forever in your favor."
"May you always seek the truth." replied Chance.
Veritas flipped the coin, and as it was spinning around in the air, she started to disappear, and was gone before the coin hit the ground.
The shadows inside Conondrum that were part of the possible timeline of Veritas also disappeared. Conondrum shrieked in pain, and it actually seemed like it was getting smaller. MINE! MINE! MINE!
Tabula Rasa's eyes opened wide, "A new timeline just split seamlessly from this one. And this timeline...it's...it's becoming stable!"
"What!? No! Impossible!" Nyarlathotrot exclaimed.
Chance shook her head, "Oh please. There are NO impossibles. Just really, really, really big improbables."
Then she turned to look at Amiticia again, "You know what to do now Amiticia. Just make sure you all have said your good byes before you do it." And with that she poofed out again.
Kendell2
Nyarlathotrot snarled. "They can land poorly, Amicitia, what will you do then? Travel to each of those world lines and lead them to good ends?! Spend another few eons clearing up near infinite timelines were Equestria may be a few days away from total annihilation?"
Amicitia looked at the spirit of Grim dark without question. "Yes. Yes, I will."
The Shadow's collective evil made manifest...just stared at her, at the resolution on her face. "...Who the Uncle do you think you are?!"
Amicitia's allies blocked the abomination's attacks to protect her as she stared down Darkness Incarnate.
"I am Princess Amicitia Zorya Spes Equestria..." the Spirit of Happy Endings said. "I am Clover. I am Minty. I am Twilight the First. I am Twilight the Unicorn...I am the Twilight's of thousands of loops..."
For a brief moment, Amicitia seemed to split into hundreds of millions of Twilights, a Clover, and a Minty.
"They are all me."
Amicitia's Aspects handed a coin to each of the liberated ponies.
"Flip it, I will help you if you need it."
And then the aspects circled around the abomination, each aligning with something within her.
The others looked to one another...then nodded and each flipped their coin at the same moment as the countless aspects of the Concept of Magic.
Conundrum roared out in agony, it's body beginning to rip itself apart.
Nyarlathotrot screamed, covering itself as a bright light erupted out of Conundrum. Even with probability ensuring a number of bad ends, the sheer number of happy ending timelines erupting into beings burning the embodiment of Grim Darkness and forcing him to retreat.
When the light cleared, the aspects of Twilight floated in the void with Fluttercruel, Gaia, Tabula Rasa, Mirror, and the Starlights (as the former three were natives to the timeline).
Conundrum's core pulsed, the six winged Alicorn/Deer shadow roaring. "NO! MINE! MINE! MINE!" It began to draw power into itself, core glowing.
Only the 'god eater' that was native to this timeline, the core of the Nightmare, remained.
The countless ponies composing Amicitia, none of which could survive on their own for too long, merged back into one and panted. "Fluttercruel...did you get them?" she asked, referring to what she'd asked of her back when they'd met.
Fluttercruel nodded. She produced five stone spheres. "Surprised they survived..."
Amicitia nodded, taking them in her magic. She floated it over to them...and they began to glow.
Crystal War Starlight's newborn loyalty to her nation and her Goddess awakening the Element of Loyalty
Nightmare Moon Timeline Starlight's self sacrifice made her the Element of Generosity.
A Starlight who kept people's spirits up during Tirek's rampage thanks to Party Favor awakened Laughter.
The Discord timeline Starlight awakened Kindness for gaining compassion and kindness for others.
The Changeling Rebellion Starlight awakened Honesty for being honest with herself, both literally and metaphorically.
Above the Flim Flam Starlight's head formed Magic, for the friends she'd learned to make trying to save the environment, as did over the head of her Alicorn self.
"Now! Hurry! We have to strike now!" Amicitia said as Conundrum continued to build power.
The temporarily shell shocked Starlights blinked, looking to one another...then nodded.
They surrounded Conundrum, becoming linked by rainbow colored light that formed a cage.
"DESTRONY! DESTROY! DESTROY! DESTROY EVERYTHING!" the monster screamed before exploding violently in a blast that would've at least destroyed Equestria if not the planet or more...but the rainbow cage not only blocked the blast but forced it back towards the center, towards its core.
A rainbow colored explosion was unleashed, engulfing everything in a rainbow colored light.
The Shadow of Chernobull, the Mary Sue Princess Sparkles it had originally been, and General Admiral Makarov all roared out in agony, projecting over Conundrum as it howled in pain, spheres of light flying off of it and into the sky.
The shade of Conundrum burned away like a shadow vanishing in the light and the rainbow continued to condense around the core and released another massive burst of rainbow light.
"Did that do it?" Princess Starlight asked, watching.
When the group was met with...was a tiny crying Cervacorn with two normal wings rather than the six black ones, and wearing a tiny Super Stallion outfit.
"What?" Fluttercruel asked. "Seriously, what?"
Gaia squeed. "So cute!" she picked up the baby and began to comfort it.
"...The Elements didn't just defeat Conundrum," said Amaicitia. "...They saved its last victim...the only way they could."
"...I'll take it from here..."
The group turned to find Pandora, the Draconequus trotting over and gingerly taking the baby. "You've been a naughty boy, Nameless...well, I guess I can name you now...how about Archetype?" she asked, kissing the baby's head and quietly walking off.
"...I've restored Equus' ecosystem," Gaia explained. "...Me and the rest of my sanctuary can begin repopulating..."
"But what about everypony that thing gobbled up?" Odyne questioned.
"I...I took care of it..." said a very tired looking Jiniri trotting over, what looked like a giggling newborn version of Celestia and Luna are her back. "...I got ALL of them after Conundrum got defeated...I'm tired now..." she said, collapsing and letting Gaia take the two. "My horn hurts..."
MtangaLion
"You missed one," said Maud Pie flatly. No one had seen her arrive, but now she was here in her plain blue frock, as if the ruin and restoration of the whole world had simply been something that happened to other ponies. "I don't blame you, though."
Maud was pushing a garish, brightly-colored baby carriage. An adorable infant Discord was tucked into it, babbling happily and pawing at three flickering spheres that danced just out of his reach...one flaming, another brilliant gold, and the last filled with a confusing jumble of plaid.
The gathered Alicorns and spirits stood speechless, until Amicitia finally found her voice. "You're...That's..."
"Yes," said Maud with seeming indifference. She parked the carriage, then trotted right up to Fluttercruel. "You had the opportunity to kill Discordance and take his power for yourself. Or punish him with your own hooves however you wished. Or you could have freed him." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Instead, you created an illusion, and left the real Discord in chains, to be destroyed with Conundrum. A cruel kindness."
Fluttercruel trembled, but she didn't run. "Do what you want to me, but I don't regret what I did. I'd do it again."
Maud's face twitched into the ghost of a smile. "Do what I want to you? Very well." A huge serpentine shadow rose from her...and engulfed Fluttercruel, pouring itself down her throat. She skimmed a bit of the essence from the chaotic orb and sent that into Fluttercruel as well, then put the rest into baby Discord. "Welcome to the family, Odyne Eris Fluttercruel Typhon...granddaughter."
"Fluttercruel!" cried out Gaia, but she had her hooves full, and it was already done. Fluttercruel was thrashing and transforming before their eyes. Her Element of Kindness emerged, only to shatter and reassemble itself as an Element of Empathy.
The new draconequus laughed weakly, slumping to the ground. "Guess I can't complain...if what goes around comes around..."
"Just like in my world," whispered Amicitia, shocked to see Cruelty like this again. "Well, not just like, but..."
Maud Pie turned to Amicitia. "You prevented these worlds from ending before their time. Well done. But the ending that you chose for yourself draws close. Think about what you will do with the remaining time. And the new beginnings that will follow the end." She trotted away and faded from view, taking the baby carriage and the other two orbs with her.
Kendell2
"Hmm...yes, I do believe this is a success..."
Amicitia blinked, turning to see a pony in a black suit with a balding head. His Cutie Mark was a knife and a shower curtain. "Nyarlathotrot?!"
The stallion nodded. "Part of him, though part of him not entirely in agreement with the rest. Call me Horror"
Amicitia blinked. "What?"
Horror gave an annoyed sigh. "Every piece of the Crawling Chaos is both a part of the collective and their own being. We are all Nyarlathotrot, but we are all ourselves."
He then tapped his chin, giving a look at the situation. "Yes, this was a wonderful horror story."
Amicitia raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"There are MANY types of horror, Amicitia. And like you are ALL magic," Nyarlathotrot's aspect explained. He then gave a disgusted look. "But it seems most of me is obsessed with the lower forms of it. Nothing but gorn, blood, and shock value! There's no SUBSTANCE to it! Now this? THIS was horror!"
Amicitia blinked, looking at the timeline. "...But it has a happy ending..."
Horror gave a sigh. "And that is why I don't agree with MOST of me. Lots of the Shadows found the Ashlands timeline terrifying, in fact many of them found ALL of this terrifying. And we didn't need gore or substanceless shock value to do it! No meaningless jump scares! They were scared for a good REASON! THAT is proper horror."
Amicitia blinked. "...I...hadn't thought about that...So you DON'T mind a happy ending?"
"MANY of the best horror stories have a happy ending. Uncle, Call of Ponythulhu ends with the good guys WINNING. A sudden BAD ending might spoil the horror rather than enhance it! We're the God of Tragedy and HORROR, not just one or the other..." Horror said, looking upset. "But because the shadows are so caught up on gore and shock value, so is most of me. It felt good to see GOOD, pure horror again. Had a good ending, it was actually a STORY, not just a randomly thrown together bunch of jump scares or gorn."
The goddess of Happy Endings looked confused. "Wait...so there's a part of Nyarlathotrot that actually let's happy endings happen?"
"Several, you just don't normally meet us given the kind of stories you deal with," Nyarlathotrot replied.
"But how...you're the Shadow's Dark Side..."
"Oh yes, let me think back to a few favorites of mine on that topic. We're the SHADOW my dear. And Shadow is more than just evil, it's the repressed and refused aspect of a being they bury," the Spirit of Horror continued, summoning a director chair and sitting in it. "And believe it or not, somewhere in us IS light, just it's normally not what YOU run into..."
He leaned back in the chair. "...You know...this Shadow, YOUR Shadow...has come up with some real winners...like this lovely little story where the ponies of the Lost Age contend with an eldritch horror born from the Shadow's collective hatred or where Suri Polomare finds herself potentially being marked for destruction now that her role is up...they have happy endings which is probably why YOU were not drawn to them, but there's some real good psychological horror to be found there."
"I...I think I understand..." Amicitia thought about it. "...So that means in your sister..."
"There is a tiny amount of darkness as well," Horror replied. "...Well, I'd best be going. I think I'm needed in the Shadow looking over us right now's mind about a story involving Trixie being chased by Stallions in Black. Glad we had a heart to heart, Amicitia."
"...Thank you...I think I needed to see that..."
Alex Warlorn
"Right now, I have a movie tribute parody world line to help create where a teenage Button Mash gets so fixated on his video games that his grades drop like stones, and he alienates Sweetie Belle and his family. And gets fixated on beating this one wireframe graphics arcade game that he breaks in at night to play it, when the final boss of the game comes to life and sucks him in, dooming him to exist as the PC of that game for eternity as indistinct faceless un-detailed wireframe character. C ya." He vanished. Amicitia shivered. Nicer or not, he was still an Avatar of the Spirit of Tragedy.
Alex Warlorn
Deus Ex Machina looked around uncharacteristically meekly. "Uh.. so...did we win?"
Alex Warlorn
Nightmare Mirror spoke. "Nightmare Conundrum has been shattered into a million pieces across a million timelines that have all stabilized. But ...Ah think Ah sit those out thank ya very much. And ya would be wise ta too Deus. . . . Oh, and Princess Amicitia, look out for the worldline where Garble became Dragon Lord."
"At least I now how that world where dragons invaded Equestria came from."
MtangaLion
Tabula Rasa stepped out of the aether and into the world once more, taking a moment to feel the green grass beneath her paws, to stretch her wings and sniff the fresh clean air, tail wagging. A irregular lump of crystal floated before her...once two of the fusion gems, now melted together and recrystallized. "So be it," she growled thoughtfully.
She brought out the book and quill again. "It seemed that the bright hopes and future of Equestria would come to nothing. The world was covered in fire and ash. The mortal races could not be found, and even many of the gods had died...but life did NOT perish. Mighty heroes from across the world and beyond vanquished the destroyer. The final end would come ANOTHER DAY."
Princess Gaia smiled and touched her horn to the doors of her cottage's cellar, unlocking the seal she'd placed there. The doors flew wide open, and bubbles began to stream out, each containing a sleeping foal or hatchling or other baby creature. "Wake, my little ponies," she sang gently to some of them. "It's a new day, and there's so much to do. Wake up!"
The first batch of bubbles popped, and the survivors of Ponyville appeared, alive and whole. Apple Bloom raced through the confused crowd, making for the first familiar pony she saw. "Big brother! Is this real? Did we go to Pony Heaven?" She saw Fluttershy's cottage, then climbed up on a rise and gasped. "Ponyville...the whole town, it's gone!"
Big Macintosh looked slightly dazed...Princess Gaia had just whispered in his ear, then nuzzled him warmly and taken flight, more bubbles trailing behind her. He cleared his throat and grinned. "Then Ah reckon, we'll build us another one. Everypony, listen up..."
Rainbow bridges began to open around the world. A group of elves came out of one, and their Moochick was amazed to see a world right out of their oldest stories. A human girl and her brother emerged from another. They gasped in wonder at a restored Pinkie Pie, who jumped ten feet in the air, crying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"
Tabula Rasa spoke, "In the place where the friendships that saved the world first took root, a new story began. Together, they built a new Paradise Estate, for a Ponyland reborn."
Alex Warlorn
"It's a beautiful sight..." Nightmare Mirror said. "Ah gotta say though...it's kinda like that world line that let Nightmare Eclipse figure out her time cheatin' spell...where Equestria came first, and then Paradise Estate came after."
Princess Amicitia shook her head. "It's not the same. There was no Paradise Estate before that world's Equestria, no Megan, no Starlight The First, no Minty...those all came after..."
"Ah gotcha...just make sure it ain't gonna become trapped in a cycle of death and rebirth...them are NEVER FUN. Ah can't argue that a bunch seem ta enjoy'em, but fer me it just spits in the face of hard work."
"Don't worry...this is a reconstruction...not a restart...Applejack, let me help you, I know you want to be free of being a Nightmare, so WHY won't let you let me?!"
"Ah done told ya, there's always gonna be a Nightmare Mirror...because there's gonna be a Nightmare Mirror who makes the world Ah want to see that won't need us around to keep goin'...And then face the music of what Ah've done. If ya went to turned me into Veritas...that just means ANOTHER Applejack would have to become Mirror...yer CHEATIN' Amicitia. And Fate, does NOT like bein' cheated. This is all a flash back to those watchin', there ain't gonna be no cheap cheat where it turns out this was all an alternate universe where ya didn't do what yer gonna do...and where Ah didn't face the music like Ah'm gonna face the music...
"Ah UNDERSTAND why ya keep turnin' versions of me into Veritas...yer makin' up fer what ya did as Nightmare Eclipse...but ya gotta LET IT GO TWILI'!!!!! Ah ain't like THAT Nightmare Mirror. The moment Ah became a Nightmare? The Truth SHOWED ME how it would end if Ah kept goin' down this path, and Ah don't mean that space in Tartarus they keep warmed up fer me. Ah mean Ah SAW the end result fer me, and the world. And Ah asked myself, 'Is it worth it AJ?'" The light gleamed off her eye. "'Yeah, AJ, it's worth it.' Ah answered back. Ah didn't want to fix the world peace meal, Ah didn't want to play nice, Ah wanted to hit the world with the truth...it had way too many lies used just to keep the world goin'...it HAD TO end and not 'some time soon.'
"If Ah don't be that Nightmare Mirror Ah saw...another AJ is gonna be...and Ah may be a Nightmare...but Ah ain't throwin' somepony else under the bus to save my own hide...and that's the truth Twili'. Because just like what yer gonna do has already happened, and we're just in the past leadin' up to it? It's the same with me. THAT'S WHY there's gotta be a Nightmare Mirror...or everypony in that of mine timeline gets ERASED...Ya've always been good at helpin' ponies help themselves...but stop tryin' to cheat my fate...THIS WORLD'S GOT ENOUGH CHEATS AS IT IS!" Mirror glared in the distance, making eye contact with Nynthy's avatar that was several light years away. For some reason, he felt a prophecy of doom upon him.
Mirror sighed. "Ah'll make my world without lies that won't need me to keep goin'...Ah'll turn myself in, and face the music for what Ah've done...If ya take me from it, fate will NEED to put another AJ in my place to keep that world line stable...because it's already happened...There are times and fate even we can't defy Twili'..." Mirror nuzzled her. "Fer the record? Ah don't know if yer Nightmare Mirror...or yer Applejack...would have forgiven ya...but Ah can say, that Ah'm proud of ya for standin' up to the truth of what ya did...and takin' it like a mare." She smiled a very Applejack smiled.
"Thank you...Applejack." They rested their necks against each other and folded their wings over each other.
CrazyJabberwock
Amiticia didn't know how long they stayed that way before parting ways with her, Mirror sounded like she wanted to head back to her world, she had a lot of work to do, and above all she missed it.
Amiticia actually had to take a bit, she had spent so long with repairing the time lines Starlight Glimmer had caused that she had to stop and ponder, perhaps a break was in order?
But as she pondered it hit her, the moment in time that surpassed the tragedy of the third ages destruction, surpassed only by her actions as Nightmare Eclips.
The Death of Cupid.
She had to make it, a world where he lived.
Kendell2
The greatest challenge to this was the Nameless Filly herself (yes, not even I can say her name).
This was not one of Nythy's pet projects. She was not a Nightmare nor possessed. She was dead inside.
If Father showing her the ruination she'd caused in clear, perfect detail down to the smallest single celled organism that got erased by her actions was not enough to bring the tiniest shred of remorse to her, what words could I say to convince her to stop her ambitions?
No, she's not 'born bad' nor was this 'her fate'...but I couldn't change this by moving HER heart, because she had none to move. It pains me to admit it...but there's nothing I can do for her without changing her so much she might not as well BE her.
I'd love to say I could convince her to accept the love of the one pony who ever cared for her...but she had nothing but contempt for him. I TRIED to convince her, only to be replied with malice and scorn.
Cupid...was too dead set on trying to redeem her to listen to me...
But...Cupid was a demi-god...With a godly family.
---
Prayers are powerful things.
When he lived, Cupid was one of the most beloved beings in existence, many prayed TO him...but how many prayed FOR him?
*Cupid is still a young god, think he'll be safe?*
Who did I say that to? Many ponies...prayers for Cupid's protection. For his defense. I found ponies who loved them and gave them the idea to pray for him, and they CHOSE to.
Interacting with the gods directly who were not incarnated into the mortal world was...complicated...so very complicated. It wouldn't cause time to diverge like I wanted. Mortal choices, however...
So when the Nameless Filly made her attempt on Cupid's life...someone else was watching. Someone who loved his nephew and had been prayed to for protection of him and thus had been watching more closely on that day.
As Venus did before, a deity descended in that moment.
---
The Nameless Filly blinked as the world quaked and space distorted. She shrugged and charged Cupid again, the frightened colt not able to will himself to attack or defend himself and having been cornered...but this time the spear collided with a shield too strong for it to pierce.
The filly looked up to see a large, armored Alicorn stallion with a Tower for his Cutie Mark.
"Uncle Turris?" Cupid asked, eyes wide.
Turris put one of his shield-like wings over his nephew. "That weapon...If you had hit Cupid, he would cease."
"That was my intention," the filly replied.
"And so would all those who live because of him."
Turris...would not have intervened directly if Cupid's LIFE was all that was in danger. A deity cannot be bias. But to defend untold numbers from being erased? It was no different than Venus AVENGING them.
"Do you care how many ponies will cease to get what you desire?"
The filly looked back with apathy that would have appalled Entropy. "No. I don't. Now get out of my way or I will go through you."
Turris could have killed her were she stood as Venus had...but he is a guardian. He instead chose to use his unbreakable defense. The Concept Killing Spear was a deadly weapon indeed, but it could do nothing if it never reached its target.
Finally, the impossible happened.
Turris could not DESTROY the weapon. But only Leo's strength matched Turris' shield. And anything slammed against something harder than itself enough times will eventually falter.
The Unnamed Filly looked at the now snapped spear, half of it unmaking the tree it slammed into. "Impossible...This...This is impossible."
"Your weapon is destroyed, stand down," Turris replied, wing still over his nephew.
"Please...just stop...it doesn't have to be this way..." Cupid said to the pony who'd tried to unmake him.
Something SNAPPED in the mare. She trembled in fury. "No...NO!"
Emotionless expression shattering and now like a wild animal, the mare charged with the broken spear at Turris.
Turris thought about the situation for a moment...and grabbed something in his telekinesis.
The spear tip flashed, held in his magic...
And the Concept Killing Spear struck itself.
Turris put up a force field as the two weapons collided and exploded like antimatter, protecting his nephew...
What happened? The Concept Killing Spear...never existed. The piece of Tirek's Chariot of Midnight from which it was made never existed. It had simply always been missing that piece. The ingredients, some of which were one of a kind, never existed.
The only signs it ever was was a tree having never been and a massive, unexplained crater in the middle of nowhere where the the spear had unmade itself.
I credit Turris...Venus, Strife, or many of the other deities would've stabbed the filly with the Spear instead.
"...Thank you for not doing that to her, Uncle," Cupid said, floating in the spirit world with his uncle, the barrier between it and the mortal world being a nonissue to him due to his demigod nature.
"You're welcome, nephew..." Turris replied, nuzzling him.
Venus soon hugged her baby and cried with worry.
MtangaLion
The Nameless Filly plotted to strike down one of the very pillars of creation, attempted to worse-than-murder billions...but in the end, she failed to commit her crime. The destruction of the Concept Killing Spear killed but did not erase her, and accordingly, she was sent to Judgment.
Turris told the court what had transpired that day, and Venus gave testimony against the Nameless Filly as well. Rota Fortuna produced a vision of What Would Have Been, had the Nameless Filly succeeded, and the Father of Alicorns ensured that she watched it from beginning to end, seeing every innocent life snuffed out, every tragedy prolonged or never averted.
And even after all that, *Cupid* spoke in her defense, wishing that he could have spread love to her before it was too late, asking if she could not have even one more chance. The Nameless Filly felt her cold, hardened heart touched, when nothing else had moved her...but she turned away and still would not speak.
Justitia and Judicium pronounced her guilty, and Havoc swallowed her up on the spot.
The Nameless Filly awoke, to her great surprise, in her workshop, the components and plans for the Concept Killing Spear spread out before her. Her calendar showed that it was one week before the day she had planed to slay Cupid. A cruel joy filled her heart...she would have another chance!
Then the voice of Havoc boomed, driving like shards of glass into her ears. "I Made This Part of Pony Hell Especially For You. You May Depart In Peace When You Truly Love Someone, And They Love You In Return."
The Nameless Filly only laughed, believing that the gods had foolishly shown her mercy. She forged the spear and made all her plans as before, then came after Cupid a day early so that Turris would not get in her way. She'd barely gotten within ten paces of Cupid when Strife appeared and seized her spear, stabbing the Nameless Filly out of existence with her own weapon.
Again, the Nameless Filly woke in her workshop, seven days in the past, for this was Pony Hell, and that had not been the real Spear. She forged the spear again anyway, ignoring other ponies who were genuinely concerned for her, not bothering to tell them convincing lies...They realized that she meant harm to Cupid and tried to stop her...she lashed out with the spear and got stabbed with it herself in the resulting struggle.
A dozen failed attempts...two dozen, and still she kept trying to slay Cupid. There had to be a way! What did it matter if the gods themselves opposed her, when she could try again and again? She grew deranged and mad, but still she didn't give up. She only needed to succeed once!
It took more than ten thousand excruciating and ironic deaths before the Nameless Filly even considered trying to learn to love someone. A hundred thousand loops later, she's still trying, still failing.
But Love...is patient.
Alex Warlorn
Princess Amicitia, Twilight Sparkle, took in a deep breath, and slowly let it out, it was just a gesture at this point, she didn't breath, she didn't have a heart beat, or a brain, or lungs, or a stomach, DNA, or anything else related to material existence, she was an IDEA, a law of the universe, a concept ...She wondered where Dues Ex Machina had gotten off to...hopefully not yet another quick fix solution that backfired, it seemed her friends were helping her with that.
"It'll never be finished, as long as shadows of existence think and spawn new worldlines, it'll never be finished. But I have eternity to do it...but also...I am reaching the infinite, the point...where I have to do, what has to be done...listen to me talking like Luna...there are still many nightmarish world lines, but some of the worst, are still incomplete in a sense, so if I entered, any happy ending I gave, they'd likely be overwritten once that world line progressed...I wonder if I'm just delaying now."
Kendell2
I blinked as Pandora appeared in front of me. "Amicitia...Dad requests and audience with you."
---
Hell is...never an easy place for anyone to be in. For me especially, because each of these ponies have a bad ending...one I can only help by bringing them help.
Havoc in his full glory is terrifying, even for me. With all the horrors I've seen, I see ALL of them in him because my fear of them IS him...
"Hello, Amicitia, Long Time No See..." Havoc replied.
"Hello, Havoc..."
Havoc shrunk down to my size and assumed the form of my father...my mortal one. No, I'm not mad. It's simply how Havoc chooses to interact. "I Have A Very Important Mission For You."
Havoc snapped his fingers and we were suddenly outside of a world line...one I recognized.
One where mortals floated in a dead universe, not thinking...not being...not living...not dying...Living death is the only term I could describe it.
One where the sun, moon, imagination, gravity, and every other concept had been snuffed out.
The world where 'kill the God' had been realized and only one concept remained. And that one concept had mutated into something horrific and beyond comprehension.
"...D___t's world..." I muttered.
Havoc looked...sad. Hurt..."...Yes...Though He Doesn't Go By That Name Anymore. As He Himself Puts It: There Is No D___t, For He Was A God And The Gods Are Dead. There Is Only Ragnarok Now."
"Ragnarok...Twilight of the Gods...or derived from it," I replied. Technically, Ragnarok was interchangeable with Ragnarökkr. It meant Fate of the Gods while Ragnarökkr meant Twilight of the Gods. Regardless, the meaning made sense. "Fitting name for what he's become."
"And Gives The Shadows Something To Refer To Him As Without Overturning My Wife's Proclamation That His Name May Not Be Said...Amicitia...In A Rare, Rare Moment...I, Havoc, Elder God of Creation...ASK You To Save This World From Ragnarok And Give It A Happy Ending. For The Only Salvation Myself Or My Wife Can Give It Is Destruction..."
I stood there, staring at him for a few moments. In a rare moment...Havoc was being one hundred percent serious. "...It won't be easy..."
"I Know. I Will Give You A Boon If You Succeed."
I had learned as Eclipse to spy on a world without being detected. Ragnarok had killed all the gods of his timeline and mutated into something much more horrifying, I had to be careful.
But I realized one thing: Ragnarok had one place he WOULD NOT tread. One thing he considered sacred and would not interfere: the choices of mortals. At his core, grotesque and mutated as he was...at the end of the day, he believed, sincerely and without exception, that he was freeing mortals, and thus even he didn't observe nor care what choices mortals made.
I realized one thing. Ragnarok had managed to create this world by using his concept of collective belief against the other concepts...among other methods...but if his Concept could destroy Concepts...it could RESTORE them.
To do that...I would need to plant an idea...a thought...
Ponies couldn't think right now...but they still had brains...which means any thought planted in their minds would count as belief. I'd need to play this smartly...Ragnarok wasn't policing the thoughts and minds of everypony because of his mania, but he WOULD attack if he realized I was here.
Thankfully...somehow, the Cutie Mark Crusaders ended up traveling side ways in time (and if Havoc is to be believed, from the future of the multiverse as a whole, which should have been impossible in every sense of the word) and ended up rushing through this dead world, but escaped (Havoc promised to help with that)...but they distracted Ragnarok...and I had a chance to intervene...and whisper something in the minds of this universe of living death.
*Have you ever heard of something called Free Will?*
MtangaLion
For a time that might have been endless or no time at all, nothing seemed to happen.
With neither fate nor chance in the world, cause and effect could not function. There was no truth, no fantasy...every event was meaningless. Mortal ponies might collectively will anything into being, but they had no reason to do so...no love or bonds or humor, no drive to change or struggle or seek anything new. Ragnarok might not have the power to snuff out the most fundamental of concepts, but he could shut them out. Fear, empathy, sanity...even madness could not reach what ponies existed in that world.
Yet in the absence of any other thought, the whisper carried. "No," most ponies answered. "I have not heard of that."
Eventually, a pony of that barren world asked, "What is Free Will?" Other ponies echoed that whisper in turn. The question implied that something called Free Will did exist, and something coalesced. Something new was born.
"I am Free Will," spoke a voice, but it was just a name, until Amicitia whispered again. * Free Will is doing what you chose to do. * The Name became an Idea...
The collective mind rippled, suddenly having purpose after long ages without. "It is a Concept, a god!" declared ponies. "Deny it! Destroy it!"
But the Idea was already taking root, influencing all ponies of that world, everywhere, simply by existing. "You have a choice, whether to do away with me or not. What do you choose?"
The collective mind became confused and could do nothing at all. They had no basis on which to choose. They could not even pick an option at random...
Kendell2
Amicitia thought about the next option. It was a choice that would decide the fate of this universe.
So she asked another question.
*Have you ever heard of imagination?*
"No," once more, most ponies asked. "I haven't heard of it."
"What is Imagination?"
"I'm imagination," said a voice, but once more, it was just a name...
*Imagination is the ability to imagine things that are not real, fantastic, amazing things. Mundane uninteresting things. The things you wish are true...and the things you wish may one day become true.*
And the voice became an Idea.
Once more, the collective belief called out "It is a Concept, a god! Destroy it! Deny it!" but the Idea was already influencing it.
"Can you even imagine destroying to be able to destroy me?" Imagination asked back.
The ponies, and their collective will, stalled. They indeed didn't have the context to imagine destruction. While Destruction would naturally come to be, at the moment it was just a name.
Amicitia decided to strike while the iron is hot. *Do you know what Knowledge and Wisdom are?*
And once more, Knowledge and Wisdom came to be as a name when a pony asked what it was. The Father still locked out, but influence returning ever so slightly. Knowledge and Wisdom spoke their names.
*Knowledge is the ability to think. To learn. To use what you know to come to conclusions for what you don't yet. Wisdom is the ability to use that knowledge to make the RIGHT discussion, not just the 'smart' one.*
And thus, despite the protests, Knowledge and Wisdom came to be Ideas and spread their influence.
*Do you know what Empathy is?*
And the process repeated, the ponies asked the question 'What is Empathy?'
*Empathy is the ability to feel for your fellow being. To care what becomes to them. To feel sad and want to help them when they're sad, to be happy with them when they're happy. To CARE.*
And...for the first time in eons...the ponies realized they weren't alone. They could not see, but they could FEEL.
*Do you know what the Sun is?*
The process repeated. Time to strike the blow she needed.
*The sun is a thing very far away. But it's light reaches you. Light allows you to SEE. the sun's light is warm, and warm feels good. Good is pleasant. It's inviting. The sun makes you warm.*
"What do you imagine the sun would look like?" Imagination asked.
And the sun...light...re-entered creation. It was a very different sun. It was still beautiful, it was still warm. It was still NICE. But it was monochrome, as color still needed to come to be.
Pony's eyes didn't need to adjust to it, as they did not BELIEVE they needed to.
Free Will posed a question. "Do you desire this to exist or to cease once again?"
Knowledge continued. "Does what you know of the sun give you reason to want it gone?"
Wisdom was next. "Is it a WISE decisions to wish the sun to be no more?"
Empathy finished. "If your fellow ponies like the sun and it makes them happy...would it be CARING to take it away again?"
And...for the first time in untold years...the ponies and other creatures looked to one another and to the new sun. They began to THINK.
"NO!"
---
Amicitia looked up as the void itself seemed to condense and warp into a gigantic form. As if existence itself, if this poor universe could be CONSIDERED existence, was taking the shape of a massive draconequus...or what USED to be one. With his Concept having become all consuming, in a sense BECOMING creation...Ragnarok became something that even the Outer Concepts would look upon in horror.
"YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! POISONING THEIR THOUGHTS?!" Ragnarok asked, snarling in rage.
"Poison? How can I poison something that isn't even alive anymore?!" Amicitia asked.
"I BROUGHT THEM COMPLETE FREEDOM!" Ragnarok roared back.
"Freedom? You call THIS freedom?" Amicitia asked. "Ponies aren't living, not dying, not BEING! This is a VOID!...That's just it, isn't it?" she asked. "You destroyed everything so you could remake it the way you wanted...but forgot that even mutated as you are, you're still a Draconequi! You still can't CREATE anything! And without the OTHER Concepts, ponies CAN'T believe in anything TO create! This whole thing is your own mess!"
"SILENCE!" Ragnarok roared and swung around, forcing Amicitia to teleport to evade a titanic claw. "YOU HAVE NO SAY HERE! THEY DESIRED GODS BE GONE SO LET THEM BE GONE." She lead the abomination away...keeping his eyes off the ponies, as for the first time in centuries, they could interact and form NEW ideas to believe in.
(OOC: I imagine Ragnarok probably looks like the Anti-Spiral art style wise now.)
CrazyJabberwock
"And now they cant even have desires because that too was a concept! Let alone whatever reason they had to desire it, all you've done is rip away meaning!"
Amicitia continued, doubting her words would mean much to the Mad Concept and more just to keep him occupied with her.
As the words echoed now across reality, more found themselves asking "What are thoughts?" "What is poison?" "What is silence?" "What is Desire?" "What is reason?"
"what is meaning?"
They pondered, their minds slowly reaching out with their new footholds, logic and creativity meeting to try and extrapolate the meaning from the context in which they were said as they discussed, no thoughts to the danger they might in as Death did not exist here.
As light re-entered the universe, other inhabited worlds slowly saw it, and those living there ask "what is that light? why do I know what light is?" even as Ragnarok began acting to destroy Amicitia, the universe soon grew more and more illuminated, for time had yet to exist and thus light reached places whenever the people thought it should.
And the questions continued to flow like a river from a broken damn.
MtangaLion
Space itself groaned, wretched out of its proper shape wherever Ragnarok pursued Amicitia. "This has to stop!" she pleaded with him. "Don't you see? You can't hold that much power all in one form. You're damaging the universe just by existing!"
"MY WORLD WAS PERFECT UNTIL YOU CAME HERE!" bellowed Ragnarok. "I AM NATURE'S FURY! NATURE'S LAW DOESN'T EXIST. I ABOLISHED IT!"
Free Will, Imagination, Knowledge, Wisdom, Empathy, and Light followed them into the heavens, carried along by the insatiable curiosity of mortals, rippling across the universe. "What is this?" asked Knowledge. "What are they doing?"
Titanic talons, claws, fingers, and hooves slammed against the wall of the universe, tearing through and pulling Amicitia bodily into the world.
"This.." breathed Imagination. "This is Struggle."
Ragnarok howled in unexpected pain...great gaping cracks were spreading across his form, with light pouring out of them. "YOU WANT ME TO STOP DAMAGING THE UNIVERSE? GIVE IN, AND I WILL STOP!"
A brilliant purple barrier kept Ragnarok at bay. "Even if I'm putting this whole universe at risk... no, I can't just abandon the ponies here, after I've finally given them hope again!" Amicitia summoned forth all her magic, keeping nothing in reserve to escape if she failed, launching spells that could have vaporized entire planets just to hold Ragnarok off, barely...
"What is...Hope?" breathed Empathy, echoing countless mortals. Another new light filled the universe, filled pony's hearts...
Free Will reared up, stirred by Amicitia's bravery. "Defiance!"
Ragnarok howled again, crumbling further. He tried to smother Alicitia's light in a blackness that blotted out the very stars.
"Darkness," spoke Light.
Empathy put a hoof to her heart, feeling sorrow for Ragnarok even as she named, "Destruction."
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" wailed Ragnarok, completely covered in glowing fissures. "NO, NOOOO!"
The monstrosity exploded. Twice. All creation shuddered...and gradually began to settle. Four "normal" draconequui slowly coalesced, looking at themselves and each other in wonder.
MtangaLion
Amicitia was left exhausted and adrift in space, gasping for air even though there was none, and she didn't need to breathe in any case. Either way, everything would be over soon enough. She was floating towards the great gaping rift that was letting the void flood into the universe that she'd tried her best to save. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that the universe was bleeding out, leaving a growing void. She found herself strangely analytical in the face of Oblivion.
And then, four lights streamed in through the hole. The brightest of them approached Amicitia, and made her feel as though all the warmth of creation had hugged her with a simple nuzzle. "Beloved daughter," whispered the white Alicorn, "we can take it from here."
"Thanks, Mom," said Amicitia, watching in wonder as the white Alicorn joined the black one, circling around the rift and starting to stitch it closed.
A grey earth pony mare in a simple frock hovered before her. Was that a tear Amicitia saw in her eye, just for a moment? "Now. I've lost all the children I had in this world," she said emotionlessly. The new draconequui gathered, floating as close as they dared and bowing low. She regarded them, acknowledging each with a nod. "But I would not sacrifice my new children. To have the old again." She touched a hoof to her chin, considering. "You've helped us a lot of times. Don't get a swelled head." She floated away, her new children trailing behind her.
Havoc came to Amicitia last, wearing the guise of her mortal father again. "I promised you a boon, I believe."
Amicitia thought about it...and found that there was really only one possible choice. "I want to see my friends again. The Nightmares that I lived with for all those millions of years...I need to tell them...I'm sorry...for everything..." She hung her head. "I know, they disappeared without a trace. The backlash must have destroyed them completely...but isn't there some way? Could I speak with them again in Oblivion, or Tartarus, or...within you in Pony Hell...wherever they came to rest?"
Havoc frowned ominously, and stamped a hoof on nothing, transporting the both of them to a place far from that universe, to a place Between All Moments. Amicitia appeared motionless and grayscale, frozen in time waiting for Havoc's decision. "Well?" He asked. "Has She Not Earned This? Cannot The Curse of Nyarlothotrot Be Broken?"
Rota Fortuna emerged from the shadows. "Lord Havoc, this is the way my world comes to be, along with Fidelitas and many more. Amicitia CANNOT learn that the other Nightmares survived. Perhaps, a separate worldline could be crafted, in which she does reunite with her Herd, but would this satisfy the boon she asked?"
Pandora stepped into the light as well. "She wanted to meet them and talk, Dad." The Spirit of Imagination smiled impishly. "She doesn't need to know the truth, if we get creative."
Fear Himself gave the matter ample thought, then made His decision.
Alex Warlorn
Amcitia was under no delusions that her very existence had granted her a large collection of enemies. And she didn't just mean the god of tragedies. Fate had a natural dislike her, but it went deeper than that:
She had been unable to really change the events of the timeline where Celestia's parents had been corrupt tyrants and the massive war that had begun, her best had been to save one extra life in all of the timeline and the death and destruction, and keep the Crawling Chaos from making events WORSE.
In the Rainbow Factory, she'd failed to keep it from being created, and even after help filly Rainbow Dash bring the factory to its end. That still left a thousand years of blood. And the economic, political, and social damage from the scandal and the reality that the rainbow factory having woven itself into the very fabric of Cloudsdale and pegasus culture had left a gapping hole in the system. She'd toppled a corrupt and immoral system (ethnic were what business-ponies had), but she had no delusions about the collateral damage.
And then the timeline where Spitfire had been corrupted by rage and jealousy at Rainbow Dash's rainboom ruining her first try for the Wonderbolts...Twilight had been able to save her, and she couldn't erase the trauma her victims had suffered even if she'd kept Spitfire from having any corpses in her wake either personally or driving others to suicide.
And the reality where Starlight Glimmer succeeded in her equal Equestria ...the feedback loop from that conflict and her trying to help had nearly destroyed that reality.
But it didn't matter for some. Countless others kept mistaking her for Deus Ex Machina, a self-appointed busy body who wanted quick fix solutions that spat in the face of the very world she was trying to help. And there positively absolutely nothing she could do to change their minds.
Alex Warlorn
Princess Twilight Sparkle, aka Amicitia spirit of magic, was faced with a world she could do nothing with. The world itself wasn't that bad, after all, it wasn't the first world she'd seen where Twilight had made friends with five different ponies who became the Elements... The problem began when Discord broke out in this world, corrupted Spike, and through him cast a falsehood on Twilight making her think the ponies who were her friends in the prime world were her friends here too. Except... then Amicitia noticed it... here... her friends discorded selves were their natural selves, lazy lying Applejack, sadistic monster Fluttershy, backstabbing and cruel Rainbow Dash, greedy and slimy Rarity, perpetually angry Pinkie Pie. And that the NICE way to describe them!
Discord's scheme had been for Twilight to use the Elements with five unworthy mares she wasn't friends with, and thus them failing again just in case. Except the memory spell rewrote their memories so they remembered doing what the Elements of Harmony had done in this world, such as saving the world from Nightmare Moon with Twilight.
Amicitia was honestly left confused and befuddled how these five had even gotten the cutie marks they had given their lazy and selfish or outright monstrous personalities.
Discord was defeated, and Twilight was left with five mares who thought they were her friends. Worse, the five were horrified and scared when their coworkers and family all treated them like they were the scum of Equestria (which before Discord, they decidedly had been). Except there was nothing to really help, no events she could nudge along try to have a better outcome. The five were stuck simply having to discover and accept the monsters they'd been, and having to move on with their lives with fake memories and a town full of half-strangers.
"There... there's nothing I can do." She whispered. She heard the Crawling Chaos laugh.