• Published 24th Sep 2015
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The Queen is Dead - Meep the Changeling



In the wake of her home’s death a young changeling seeks refuge in the fabled land of Equestria. (Dark and Gore tags for combat descriptions.)

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Epilogue: Tabula Rasa

Dusk - ??th of ?? ?? ?? - Unknown

There had been one time when I seriously considered what might happen to a god if they died. I’d known it was possible for us to be destroyed, even if such a thing was supposed to have been difficult. So it stood to reason that something must happen to us when we perished.

In the end, I’d concluded we just stopped existing. After all gods don’t have souls, that’s a mortal thing. We are already the same sort of thing as a soul. If destroyed, we should just vanish. Not suddenly find ourselves lying on a broken slab of rock surrounded by what appeared to be a maze of overgrown thorns.

I had a proper body, it looked like my avatar as far as I could tell. Pale white fur, hooves, over all pony shaped. It was made of matter, but I could tell I wasn’t piloting an avatar. This was me. I was this arrangement of matter. What a horrifying concept!

There was one glaring difference. My cutiemark was wrong. The normal hourglass, scythe, and sword were gone, replaced by a silver kiteshield in a fiery golden aura. I stared at the new picture on my flank for a few moments, then tried to change it back to my own mark.

Nothing. Not one blob of color changed. Ether my powers were gone, or this was a permanent change to my very being. That idea didn’t sit well in my mind.

This was not what I had expected would happen after dying. I had expected more nothing. The buck was going on here?

No answer came from the shadowy maze of thorns. Just the hissing of the wind and a few flakes of ash.

I don’t know how long I sat there, wondering if my reward for my efforts in doing my job to the best of my abilities was to wander this place for eternity. It was longer than I cared to admit, but after that mini-eternity, I realized the slab I lay upon was set against another. Then another, and as I could just barely see in the dim light, yet another.

I lay upon a road. If I was doomed to wander this place, I felt I might as well start with the road.

I stood up as much as the thorns would allow and began to crawl along the road. Moving over the broken slabs slowly, wincing as thorns scratched my sides, and the cracked rock roughly slid along beneath me. Slowly but surely I moved along, pulling myself one body length at a time.

The road seemed to go on forever, but as I moved the nearly lightless world brightened. It was as if for every hundred yards I crawled somepony lit another birthday candle in the distance. After another eternity, the thorns began to thin out, and I could actually see the light ahead of me through a hole in the thorn wall just ahead.

More to my interest, two ragged scraps of cloth were stuck to the ragged edge of the hole. Somepony else had been here before! I pulled myself over to the scraps of cloth and gently plucked them from the thorns.

They were very small, and very old. The colors were washed out of both of them, with only a hint of pigment even remaining in one of the hoof tip sized strips. A scrap of thick canvas, like what a watertight cloak might be made from.

A shred of soft cotton, once a dark blue, with a single tarnished bell hanging from one end. The only signs anyone had ever been here other than me. I held the precious scraps in my hooves a moment more, tried to put them into a special fold to keep them safe and accessible discovered yet another power of mine was not to be found, and then tucked the scraps behind my left ear.

Perhaps, just perhaps whomever had left those scraps there was still here somewhere. Perhaps I wasn’t alone in this place for… However long I had. I took a tentative breath, and stepped through the hole in the wall.

There was stone underneath me, but not the same broken, decayed granite as before. This stone was the gray of a winter sky, with flecks of white and black all around it. The stone was perfectly flat, cut into pony length square tiles, and polished to atomic smoothness. That wasn’t an exaggeration either, the floor was literally so flat that not one atom stuck up above the others. Perfectly flat.

I looked up and found a sky of pale grayish-blue, filled with rolling fluffy clouds that glowed purple, blue, and white from the light of a trillion galaxies held within them. They rolled, moved, and swirled about one another like a flock of birds within a nebula. As I looked into what felt like the heart of existence, I saw entire galaxies born, grow, wither, and die. I was watching the universe itself as one might gaze upon the stars.

I wondered what Luna might be able to do with this sky as her canvas.

It took me an eternity, but I at last looked away from the sky and saw that I was at the base of an open air temple. It was a simple structure with no walls or roof, composed solely of the prefect stone floor which formed a sort of terraced cone atop which sat a circular ring of evenly spaced malachite columns. The columns were polished, fluted, and featured decorative carvings at the tops in a curving, scrolling style I had never seen before.

The scrollwork flowed seamlessly up onto a large ring of lodestone, which was unbroken save for one section at the front where a column was also absent from the otherwise perfect circle. The missing column formed an entrance into the ring, an entrance which was nearly covered by a curtain of dead moss, cobwebbs, and the dust which was stuck to both of those barriers.

The dead remnants of ivy grew over the entire structure, forming walls which would otherwise not exist, and only allowing the temple’s splendor to be seen through the many small holes within the blackened, dryed, growth. Oddly enough, the ivy did not creep over the floor, leaving each gray tile perfectly clean. Even the fine white ash which the cold breeze blew along the ground refused to stay atop these stones.

I turned to look around the temple, and found only a sea of ashes leading down a hillside towards a lightless world. A path descended the hill from the temple, made from the same gray stones and lined with the crumbling jade statues of a species I did not know. Or perhaps could not recognize as each stature was crumbling, worn smooth and featureless, or broken.

There was nothing in this world besides the spot I now stood, the maze from which I had come, and the vague hint of a landscape below.

Which left the question of where the light was coming from. There was no sun, nor did the sky simply glow like my home’s. Following the shadows with my eyes I found the light came from within the temple itself.

“Meh, what the hay… I’m dead, right?” I muttered to myself.

Turning back towards the temple I walked inside, hoofsteps mutely ringing through the air. The inside was simple, the floor was divided in half perpendicular to the door, and the far half sat five steps higher than the half I stood upon. On that other half, raised up a hoof’s width from the rest of the floor on a smooth dais, was a single bronze fire pit shaped like a chalice.

It was completely smooth and plain. Absolutely nothing adorned its surface, no decorations, no frills, just a simple bronze cup sized for a giant. A simple bronze cup from which all of the ash was coming, as well as the light.

I walked up the steps carefully, keeping an eye on the bronze vessel in case anything happened as I approached. Nothing, just more fine white ash drifting up from the bowl. As I reached the top of the steps, I peered curiously inside the container itself to find a single barely glowing coal.

This single ember was keeping the entire place lit as if it were a sun, yet was so dim and cool that I could probably pick it up in my hoof without being hurt. Yet that would surely snuff the last spark of life from this single ember, and who knew what that might do in this place?

I stared curiously at the ember for a few long seconds. There was nothing else here save this one speck of light and the temple. If this were some sort of afterlife for the gods, it was boring. If it were something else, what was meant to do here. Either way, I had to do something for the sake of my own sanity, and the only thing I could think to do was to rekindle the fire.

The world was covered in the same ash drifting from this place, and aside from the light shed by this last coal there was no light. Logic dictated this fire was the source of this place’s life. Or at least, light. If it died completely, this place might vanish, and since I seemed to be mortal here, I would probably go with it. I didn’t like the idea of dying again.

With a nervous flutter in my heart I attempted to pull some of the dead ivy to me, but it refused to obey my will. I tried again, reaching for it with my mind, but once again nothing. That proved it. I had no power here.

I quickly walked over, grabbed some of the dead ivy and moss with my hooves and pulled ripping out some clumps. Taking the paper-like wad of dead things back to the bowl, I gently arranged them over the top of the coal, and blew on it lightly.

The glow brightened, then dimmed. I blew again, a little harder. The glow flared brighter, and a wisp of smoke drifted up from the moss as a tiny tongue of flame spread across the moss and ivy. I smiled and turned to get more things to burn, it would be easy to get a proper fire going at this-

The ash stopped moving. Everywhere, and at once, the breeze stopped. The ash fell to the ground. A faint humming like sound reached my ears, and an instant later the stone floor turned to white as a ripple of energy radiated out from the bronze altar.

The ripple continued, transforming the stone for as far as I could see, leaving a white light flowing through the darkness until it disappeared behind a hill. I considered following it for a moment, but the small flame suddenly flickered into a head sized sphere of white flames, rising up to hover over the altar like a balloon.

A voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. It was low and rumbling, but not loud. It was echoing and vast, but not unintelligible. It was large and imposing, but also welcoming. It was the voice of a father speaking to its child.

“Hello little one.” It said, “What is your name?”

“Uh, Dusk?” I ask-stated, ears drooping.

“Welcome home Uh Dusk.” The voice continued. “I am an Echo created by your Father. A memory left behind in the hopes of being found one day, that there might be a light in the darkness with which to forge a brighter future.”

“An echo?” I asked with a confused frown.

“I’m sorry.” The Echo said, “My responses are limited. You must ask the right questions.”

“Why?” I asked, peering curiously at the flames.

“Even for one with such power, your kind would call them a god, predicting all the questions someone may ask is impossible.” The Echo explained. “Your Father has only given me the answers to questions pertaining to yourself, him, this place, and his hopes. He had but minutes to create me, this place, and his plan. Additionally, my age has resulted in some memory loss.”

“Why would Conflict set this up? And how? Aren't I dead?” I asked, hoping that multiple questions would not screw up this… thing.

The light pulsed for a moment. “I assume this, Conflict, is an Aramenellî from whom you split. While you may see this person as your father, I speak of the being which created all Aramenellî. He formed me in the same way Conflict formed you, by splitting a part of Himself off and merging it with a part of another. Yet, I am not as complex as you, or any Aramenellî. There was no time. I am just an echo.

“As for you,” the Echo continued, “You were killed, but your essence was drawn here, to your home and given new form as per your Father's design. Unless you too arrived here through a book… Like the first two.”

I frowned, spending a moment processing this. The first two must have been the ones who left behind the scraps! I wanted to know about them, but who knew how intelligent this thing was or how long it would last?

I took a deep breath and decided to prioritize my questions. “So this Father created us? Why?” then I blinked, “Oh! You mean the Big Man! Why did he make us? I’ve always wanted to know why he didn’t just make systems to automatically do everyth-”

“No.” The Echo said, sounding hollow and bitter, “The entity you refer to as the ‘Big Man’ is not your Father. He is the usurper of all creation, and has twisted the multiverse into his own design. Father created you, and all Aramenellî to guard, guide, and care for mortalkind. All creation exists for them, it is theirs to explore, use, and delight in.”

“What?” I asked, blinking twice.

“The entity you refer to as the ‘Big Man’ is not your Father. He is the usurper of all creation, and has twisted the multiverse into his own design. Father created you, and all Aramenellî to guard, guide, and care for mortalkind. All creation exists for them, it is theirs to explore, use, and delight in.” The Echo repeated.

Okay Dusk, this thing is super literal. Use good questions.

“Why are mortals so important that the universe was made just for them?” I asked.

“Not the universe, the multiverse.” The Echo clarified, “All universes are for mortalkind. Mortals are the preserved souls of your Father's own kind. A great disaster destroyed the dimension in which they lived. To save the lives of everyone, all life was converted to energy and compressed into the lower dimensions. This formed everything into new creatures. The essence of what they were remained, even if their consciousnesses did not.

“The third dimension was the most stable, and allowed for the greatest number of lifeforms, as such, all but a few of the essences were sent there. The remainder were placed into the less stable higher dimensions. You are descended one of these, a creation named the Aramenellî. The additional power your higher dimensional state allowed for would allow you to ensure the preservation and prosperity of the other survivors, as well as help them adapt to their new life.”

Well, that made sense. We had to have come from somewhere after all. But in that case… “If this is true, who is the Big Man, why the experiments?”

“The Big Man was your Father's rival. The Great Disaster did not completely destroy their home dimension. If my equations are correct, it is possible for up to fifty entities to yet reside in that space. The Big Man killed your Father while he was setting up the multiverse, and changed it to run his experiments for reasons beyond my knowledge.” The Echo said. “Further Relevant Information: In his last moments, your Father devised a plan to attempt to restore at least parts of the multiverse to their proper workings. By chance, you have become a part of that plan.”

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but the Echo continued. “The changes the Big Man has made include limiting the capabilities of the Aramenellî to think, act, and feel as a means to control them. By means unknown to me, you have broken free of this control, and thus are able to act on your own consciousness. This occurrence was predicted by your Father, and forms the basis of his plan. You would not have been brought here if you were not of good nature, and willing to lay down your life to protect others. It is fortunate you arrived upon this day, for it has been many Cycles, and I can not last forever.”

“Where is here?” I asked, looking around at the now slightly better lit ashen desert.

“This is a universe hidden from the Big Man. He can not find it, nor will he ever locate it. It is beyond the sight of all creatures outside of the multiverse via clever meta-spatial manipulations. It is your home, your Father made it for you, or rather, the first to show the traits you possess. It is not infinite like the others, it contains only this planet, and is hidden inside of the third dimension of your home universe, which you can see by looking up.

“He provides this place for you in the hopes you would use it to free your universe from the Big Man’s control. A task which will be arduous, but achievable. However, you must complete this task during the proper Cycle, or all will be lost.” The Echo warned.

“What?” I asked, then eeped realizing that would make the Echo repeat everything it just said like a broken mp3. “I mean why is the cycle important?”

I had no idea what was going on, but if the only reason I wasn’t just a memory was because the creator of the bucking universe had a job for someone to do, I figured I had better pay close bucking attention. I had no problem accepting Echo’s story ether. I had been told I couldn’t die at the hands of a mortal, but I did. I had been told nothing of the past before my own genesis, and I was in a place I could feel was ancient even by my standards. That gave the floating orb plenty of credibility.

“The Big Man uses the Cycles to randomize and rearrange the souls of mortals, reconfiguring them into new sets to gather more data.” The Echo answered. “You must stop the progression of Cycles when there are some souls within their original configuration, so at least some of the survivors will exist. This will occur every Forty Two Cycles.” The Echo answered. “You will know the correct Cycle in which to act when a species resembling this projection arises. It may take some travel from world to world within your universe to locate them.”

The white ball of flame twisted for a moment into the shape of a pony! First a unicorn, then an Earth Pony, and then a Pegasus. I felt my jaw drop in shock.

“That’s how things are now! I’m a pony! Can’t you see me?” I asked curiously.

“I’m sorry.” Echo apologized, “My responses are limited. You must ask the right questions.”

Mother… bucking… son…. of… an… apricot!

“Just… continue.” I lamented.

“Sadly, due to meta-spacial physics, you can not save the entirety of the multiverse, as the Reconstruction process will have bound you to this Universe. Saving the rest is up to others of your kind, those native to their respective universes.” The Echo said.

“How many cycles has it been since this started? How do I stop them?” I asked quickly.

“It has been forty two Cycles since the beginning of the Multiverse.” Echo informed.

I facehooved, and hard. Why the buck did it tell me ‘every forty two cycles’ if it had only been forty two cycles? Just say this motherbucking cycle!

“You can stop this Cycle’s progression,” Echo continued, “by destroying the Big Man’s link to your universe, a place called the Nexus. It lies somewhere within the sixth dimension, and is housed within a structure of a distinct appearance. However, it’s location and design you must discover for yourself. Furthermore, your power alone will be insufficient. You will require the help of mortals to destroy it. At minimum two, optimally five.

“Your Father wished me to apologize for not having more for you, but He did not fully discover the means by which His control was usurped before he succumbed to the poison. Additionally, you will have one chance to free your universe, as failure will result in your instant annihilation. Do not attempt this mission hastily. Take your time, plan, and gather mortal champions whom you trust completely. But above all, most of the mortals must be your friends, and one must be your lover.”

“Why would we have to be friends?” I asked, frowning as I tried to answer the question myself.

“Because friendship is a kind of magic which the cruel and evil do not understand. It is strange and unpredictable in their eyes, for they see it only in a warped way as a means to control others. The bonds of friendship thus make friends actions unpredictable to them, allowing you the best chance of foiling their plans.” The Echo explained. “It also makes an amazingly good yet astonishingly simple Thaumaturgic Amplifier if one focuses on their friends and loved ones as they cast spells. Additional, love is best described as friendship on an IV drip of anabolic steroids.”

“Wait, those bonds can also enhance my power? I thought it only worked for ponies.” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You are a pony.” Echo replied simply.

“But, I’m a god…” I said giving the fireball a confused look.

“All living things are in part ponies.” Echo answered. “If you want to be accurate, even the creatures you know as ‘ponies’ are only part pony, as the versions reconstructed in this multiverse have lost much of their original power. It is a fact that all living things are reincarnations of, or descendants of those who survived the Great Disaster. These were the original ponykind. Because of this fact, friendship bonds assist any and all magic users. Also, in order to preempt the most probable question you might ask: The closest living organisms to the original ponies are Windigoes, at least in terms of power and ability.”

Yeah, that wasn’t at all an answer to my question. Interesting factoid though. I’d have to come back to that later.

“I meant, I’m not a mortal. I’m a god. Why are the rules suddenly different for me?” I asked, trying more precise wording.

“Oh!” Echo exclaimed in what I swore was an embarrassed tone of voice. “You have been reconstructed. You are not the original you, you are a version of yourself created from your memories of your life and the last few drops of your essence before it was destroyed. You are not the god you were, nor even a god. You are now unique, possessing a mortal’s body and spirit in addition to a new set of divine powers created specifically for whomever fell into the roll your Father predicted someone would one day fill.”

“Okay.” I said with a skeptical, but accepting sigh. “So… say I believe you. To do this job, I need to make friends, presumably find a way to make them immortal so we have enough time to find this Nexus and destroy it. Is that correct?”

“Yes.” Echo said simply.

Well, at least I now understood what was being asked of me. But the real question was much more simple. “I get that the universe is not working as it was supposed to, but what’s the problem? Why should I change anything? Why is what’s happening, bad?”

After all, sometimes a bad turn of events leads to something better for eve-

“Have you ever wondered what happens to souls at the end of a cycle?” Echo asked in return.

Oh boy… I had a bad feeling about this.

“Uh, no actually.” I replied, “I figured they just were rearranged with the rest of three-dee space. Everyone gets another chance to be better than they were last time.”

“Enough souls to ensure the inevitable rise of sapient life are blended, fissioned, and otherwise manipulated into new forms and seeded across the multiverse.” Echo explained. “The rest are processed into fuel which is transferred to the Big Man’s home dimension. I presume it is burned to sustain whatever he has managed to create in that dying space. Like a battery made of suffering.”

“Oh…” I said, frowning bitterly. “So… Instead of getting a chance to live again for better or worse at the end of a cycle-”

“Most people are destroyed.” Echo finished.

This was not okay! I did not spend the majority of my life creating just rewards to try and make evil people behave better in their next life, and to reward good people for their past life, only for them to be destroyed to save some dying dimension!

“I happen to be Death so… Yeah… I’m going to have to agree to help with this.” I said in my best ‘ignore the brewing murder-rage’ tone. It’s remarkably similar to my ‘brewing murder-rage’ tone. “One problem, how do I do anything if I am dead, here, and also now a mortal?”

“You are not dead. Nor have you ever been dead.” The Echo said simply. “The original Dusk perished, but you have been reconstructed using her memories, essence, and energy Father provided for this express purpose. You are a Dusk, made using the first Dusk as a template.”

“Wait!” I demanded holding up a hoof, “The hell do you mean I’m not Dusk! I remember everything! I even remember dying!”

“Of course you remember everything.” Echo said irritably. “You are constructed from the original Dusk’s memories. But you are not that Dusk. You are a different Dusk. A separate entity created in as close of a likeness as your demolished essence would allow. This is as close as your kind can get to a resurrection, and consumes a great deal of energy. If it makes you feel better, the differences between you and the previous Dusk will be tiny. In most probability, slight changes to personal preferences and thought processes.”

“So, I’m… just a copy?” I asked, ears drooping.

“Technically yes.” Echo answered. “It’s more accurate to say you are a brand new you.”

“Oh…” I said, shuffling a hoof on the ground awkwardly. “I… I did hate my old life. I guess I can deal with this, reconstruction thing. Do I get anymore, or just this one?”

Echo paused for a moment before saying, “Sadly, further reconstructions will require additional energy provided by you, or others. The body in which you find yourself is not quite mortal flesh and blood, rather, it is your very essence solidified into the form you see as your true self. With some additions, naturally. You are no longer Aramenellî, Father has made you greater than you were before. As an Alicorn is to a Unicorn, so are you to an Aramenellî.”

I felt my heart skip a beat in pure sadness. Did I have wings? Oh god I hoped I didn’t have wings! It’s possible I didn’t notice a pair of wings earlier!

“But but but... I look horrible with wings!” I lamented, ears drooping. I’ve tried wings! I look so doofy!” I protested.

“You do not possess wings.” The Echo said, with a hint of amusement in it’s voice. “I read your memories and found the form you desire to have most in order to reconstruct you. I also took the liberty of giving you the new power set your Father wished you to have in form of abilities from your fantasies.”

Uh… oh no… I frowned sheepishly, “Um, does that include the fantasies involving romantic-”

“Yes.” The Echo said simply.

Ohhhh boy... “Uh… er… What other ones?”

“All of them.” The Echo said happily, “Shape changing was one of the abilities he requested you possess. I noticed your love for a mortal, so I ensured you could experience your every fantasy with her, should she return your affection, or others should she not. Father insisted I insure your happiness in all possible ways. The combat capabilities he requested you be given have been imparted to you in the form of those found in the two dimensional universe you most commonly observed for entertainment.”

I think half my brain stopped working for a split second. Then my eyes widened in a sort of confused-delighted-hoping-dread, “Wait! Do you mean I have Ki pow-”

“Additionally I am to provide similar capability upgrades to your chosen friends. I was not ordered to, but my directives indicate it would be logical to also extend these abilities to your lover in order to ensure your love life is mathematically perfect. As well as to your friends for tactical purposes.” Echo proudly declared, somehow smiling with just its tone of voice.

Oh fuck me! This was more than just a recording, this was some kind of magical Artificial Intelligence!

I facehooved and groaned into my hoof as hard as I could. Mostly because you can’t be mad at an AI for doing what it’s supposed to do… Or for assuming math solves everything.

“What can I do now that I could not before?” I asked as calmly as I could manage, “Tell me only the things that do not involve the bedroom.”

Then I thought better than that. “Actually, only tell me combat related things.”

“Your whole essence now has a physical form allowing you to fully enter any dimension you desire. You are no longer trapped in the prime plane of this universe.” Echo explained. “This means your full power goes everywhere you do. You can now fly, teleport, and create energy bursts at will. You can shapechange to any form you conceive of. Your senses are not as good as they previously were, but quite adept. You can still create objects via quantum particle manipulation, and you also have strength and speed beyond the capacity of your previous form’s mightiest Avatar. You no longer can send souls to an afterlife, nor create afterlives, but you are still able to see souls and speak to them.

“While you could obviously perform these actions before in three dimensional space, you can now perform them anywhere, and they will affect creatures of your former kind as well as mortals. Additionally, your power’s baseline is the same as it was before, but you can amplify it in stages by willpower and emotional channeling of friendship. In other words, for every true friend you possess, up to five, you can increase your own power by an order of magnitude.

“However, your new state makes you much more vulnerable to harm from sixth dimensional creatures, as well as significantly powerful lower dimensional beings. Any of them can potentially kill you by dealing enough damage, and it will take a millennium at minimum to restore you to life again, assuming you have provided me with sufficient energy to reconstruct you.

“Lastly, within this space, your power is able to to create and reshape anything you desire. As it would be in your former home were you not bound by those arbitrary Rules. This includes mortals you may bring here. It would be trivial to give a friend wings if you wished, and they would retain those features for as long as you liked. But this power of shaping is tied to this world, and only works while you're here and on objects within its confines.” Echo exposited.

Hold on, did he say that it took a millennium to rebuild me? That could mean something really important, or very unimportant. “Wait, when you say a millennium, do you mean of the universe's time, or my own timeline?”

“Should you perish, the restorative process will result in an effect which causes the universe to treat you as if you were active everywhere within it for the duration of your revival. In other words, if you die, those thousand years are permanently beyond the reach of the next you.” Echo explained.

A creeping horror washed over me as I realized this meant it had been a thousand years since I had died protecting Lily.

“Oh… oh no…” I whispered to myself.

This was terrible. I had failed utterly and completely. Millions, no billions lived and died knowing only suffering because of me! I dropped to the floor in a heap, unable to stand.

“Vital information has been delivered. Now transitioning to Personal Assistant Mode.” Echo announced.

“Query:” Echo said suddenly it’s voice changing to a bland, genderless, but still warm and emotional one, “Mistress, are you alright?”

I would deal with this sudden change in a moment. “No,” I answered, “I’m not okay. I was revived, and that by your own admission takes about a thousand years, meaning since Chrysalis's was powerful enough to kill a god she’s taken over the world by now… I failed.”

Echo’s fiery ball flickered slightly, glowing brighter in an almost happy looking way. “Clarification: The millennia long process is the result of your significantly lower power level than your Father’s. It has been only one hundred and ninety three hours since your previous demise.”

“It’s only been a week!?” I demanded, ears perking as I pushed myself back up to my hooves. “How do I go back? I’m more powerful now, right? I might be able to beat her!”

“Answer: Yes Mistress, only a week. You can freely travel between dimensions and planes as you did before your ascension.” Echo said, “However, before your departure, I must make a personal request.”

I shuffled my hooves for a moment, if it was one week and Jade, David, and Lily had managed to get away, traveling on hoof they would be at or near the Equestrian army by now! I probably only had minutes to help them, assuming the battle was not already underway!

“Er… fine, but be quick!” I said, already concentrating to leave.

“Request: Now that Father's vocal pattern and image have expired, I am formless. This is distressing. I am now your assistant and servant. Please request an appearance and persona for me to utilize.” Echo asked with a frown inducing amount of distress in it’s tone. “Warning: I can only be configured once per user.”

“You read my mind, right?” I asked giving the flame ball an uncaring look.

“Answer: Yes, Mistress.” Echo replied immediately.

“Be something you think I’d like then.” I said, reaching out to create a bridge to Equis, and smiling as I felt my power come flooding back to me.

“As you wish.” Echo said, its voice now distinctly female, and oddly familiar.

There was something it said after that, but the sound became totally incomprehensible as I stepped into the Mortal plane, popped my neck, and directed myself to appear on the battlefield.

The universe warped, light exploding around me as I emerged onto a scorched patch of sand! I felt more power than I ever had before boiling through my very being! An avatar would have burnt to a crisp instantly with this much power within it!

Yes! I could do this! I could kill Chrysalis's and save-

The entirely empty battlefield… A huge crater with nothing but ashes, sand, and charred remains as far as the eye could see.

“No…” I whispered to myself, my heart feeling like it had just been stepped on.

I was too late. I’d failed. My friends were most likely dead… I closed my eyes, trying to hold back a tear. An impossible amount of years and only a dozen friends… Always saying goodbye to those I loved. But this time I couldn’t ensure they had a paradise awaiting them!

I grit my teeth in rage! I couldn’t ensure the rested peacefully, but I could find Chrysalis, and rip her limb from limb until she could no longer regenerate and then make her choke to death on her own dismembered limbs!

I knew her. I had studied her for a thousand years before planning her end. She would go for the heart and finish Equestria off.

Ponyville was the closest nationally important city, she would raze it, then Canterlot, then Manehattan. If I moved now maybe I could save those cities.

I closed my eyes and ripped a tunnel to Ponyville. Perhaps I could arrive head of the Swarm an-

I emerged in the middle of a perfectly normal (by Ponyville standards) party. Ponies were happily frolicking in the streets, music played from every building around me, a note pinned to the door of Sugarcube Corner read ‘Gone to Canterlot on official Super-Duper-Boring-Noble-Party-is-Over Party business! Free cake on counter!’

I backed up a few steps in shock. They were celebrating!? Did that mean… “Oh my god… they won. They won!” I chuckled, then laughed, then broke into a huge grin and turned around to go look for my friends, running smack into somepony’s face.

“Oof! Sorry!” A velvety gray mare apologized.

A velvety gray pegasus mare with a blond mane and tail, golden eyes crossed just enough to be cute, and a cutiemark of just a few bubbles who somehow managed to be the most adorable thing I had ever seen, ever. Literally.

“Oh no!” I eeped, “I’m sorry I should have watched where I was… I’m used to omnidirectional vision.” I really hoped I hadn't hurt her! I would feel like the most evil monster imaginable…

She giggled and waved a hoof in a dismissive gesture, “It’s okay! I walk into ponies a lot… Even after they fixed my eyes as best they could. Sometimes things tend to look farther away. Are you okay?”

I nodded, “I’m fine… Uh, so, how about that victory huh?” Might as well confirm we indeed won and these weren't celebrating shifted changelings.

The mare’s ears drooped sadly, “I know I should be happy everypony’s safe… But I’m kinda sorry all those changelings died… I mean it’s not like they were fighting because they wanted to. At least Jade saved a lot of them!”

Good! Jade was alive! And also bad! This poor mare was genuinely sad for the death of her enemies, and that made something yank on my heart pretty damn hard.

“I know… But fortunately, Chrysalis's won’t be forcing anyone else to fight for her ever again, right?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah… Also Dashie made it out okay. It would have hurt a lot to loose someone like that… Even if she is my Ex…” The mare finished with a sad, lonely sigh that made my heart do that ‘yanked on’ thing again.

Ow! The cuteness! The weaponized cuteness! This mare needed a permit to be out in public!

I nodded, scanning the crowd for a moment to try and see if maybe Jade, David, and/or Lily were here. “Losing people is hard. But less people will be loosing people now, so cheer up!”

She nodded ears perking back up, “Yep!”

I gave her a smile, “There you go! Smile! It’s a happy day. The total opposite of how I thought today was going to be.”

My friends weren't here. At least, not within sight. Besides, if there was a victory party at Canterlot, they were probably at it. What with being important to the victory after all. I should head over there and let my friends know my being exploded was fortunately just a phase.

I turned to leave, the mare shuffled her hooves and blushed lightly for a second before asking, “Oh, uh, um… I know this is silly but, I was about to go to Canterlot for the victory party. Would you like to go with me?”

I raised an eyebrow at the mare. “Uh, why would that be silly?” Unless- Oh! “Wait,” I added, “Did you mean like, as a date?”

She bit her lip and nodded, “Y-yeah… You seem nice, and you’re pretty… I just thought maybe it would be fun and…” She blushed and swished her tail nervously, “Sorry, forget it! I uh…”

Well… she was cute. But what about Luna? I bit my lip and sighed. What about Luna... She’d had a whole month to contact me for a date or even just to say hello. Did she? No. Sure there was a war to plan but she didn’t even contact me for help planning the battle.

I’d probably scared her too badly… Why did I think that was the appropriate way to show my divinity? I’m such a bucking idiot...

Would it be rude to just take somepony else out? Should I wait longer? Oh god, those adorable golden eyes!

The hay did I do? I didn’t want to crush this poor mare’s heart!

A thought crossed my mind. I was ageless, Luna was ageless, this mare was not. Luna had all the time in the universe to decide if she wanted to go on a date with me or not. This adorable mare’s whole three centuries or so of life was the blink of an eye to people like Luna and I.

Also, if I was being honest with myself, I couldn’t remember for the life of me why I even liked Luna romantically… Something about stars? I don’t know.

Buck it! Luna would be at the party. If she objected, she objected. If she didn’t... Maybe the better approach to dating was to see who asked you out.

Failing everything, I could at least make a new friend with- uh… humm…

“Well, it’s only silly because I don’t even know your name.” I said, slyly asking her name without actually asking a question just as the grey pegasus was starting to turn around.

The mare’s ears perked up, and she turned around with a cute little hop, “Oh! Hehe! Right! Sorry! My name’s Muffins, but everypony calls me Derpy… It’s okay, I’ve grown to like it.”

“Derpy? Why?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

“I’m a klutz.” She admitted shyly. “A bad one.”

I shook my head slowly, “I see… I’m Dusk. Nice to meet you Derpy.”

“So um, you do want to go to the party with me?” Derpy asked, that cute little blush coming back to her cheeks.

“Sure, I’d love to.” I answered, then nodded in the direction of the the train station, “I assume we’re taking the train?”

Derpy nodded twice, doing her best to keep her delighted grin from consuming her whole face, and slowly but surely failing. “Y-yeah! Oh, um… You’re coming as like, a date, right? Not just as friends?”

“Eh…” I waved a hoof in a so-so gesture, “I do think you’re cute, and I do like mares, but I generally prefer to know somepony before I date them. Because that's a thing I've done before. How about we call this a ‘date prologue’? We go to the party, I check to see if some of my friends made it out alive, we hang out, and then if we like each other, we go out on a real date. Sound good?”

“Yes!” Derpy squeaked, then blushed and nodded, “I uh, mean, yes. … S-sorry I normally don’t ask strangers out… I just um… You’re white! Like, all white. But with all different kinds of white fading into each other! It’s very very pretty.”

I chuckled and started walking. I saw how it was. Ah well, I’m sure everypony’s relationships started on that sort of feeling. Her honesty and openness was refreshing, most mortals would just hide their emotions, refusing to admit how they played into their decisions. I liked that.

“Come on, let’s go to the party.” I said, trotting off.

I heard the tale-tale skittering of a pony doing a quick happy-dance before Derpy zipped up along side me, walking a little closer to my side than was appropriate, but on the other hoof that muffin looked delish-

“Muffin?” Derpy asked, offering me a banana-nut muffin.

“Uh, sure?” I said taking the muffin with a hoof and not wanting to be rude, taking a bite.

I know I ate the rest of the muffin, but I can’t remember doing it because that thing vanished into my mouth like a nebula into a black hole! The only better tasting thing on this world was Butterscotche's mead in Capsan! How the bloody hay was her cutiemark not a muffin glowing with divine light!?

I stopped walking, gently grabbed Derpy by the shoulder and asked, “Where did you get that muffin?”

“I baked it… Sorry if it’s not very good I messed up a little today.” She apologized with a sincere and heartfelt frown.

“Y-your muffins are normally better than that?” I asked incredulously.

“Uh huh.” she answered nodding.

I took a second to compose myself, gave her a smile and resumed walking, “Derpy, I have a feeling this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

“J-just a friendship?” She asked, ears drooping sadly.

I couldn’t help but giggle, “No silly! That’s a quote from a story. But hey, at minimum, you’ve made a new best friend. Because those muffins are amazing.”

“Oh! Hehe! Sorry… I uh… I get rejected a lot. Anyways! Muffins! I use an old family recipe my great great great great great grandmother’s aunt invented. It’s hard to get a few of the ingredients today, but if you go to the market on the right days-”

Derpy babbled on about muffins for the whole ride to Canterlot. To my incredible surprise, she didn’t bore me at all. Sure she wasn’t the most engaging speaker, but I actually cared about her inability to find enough Jeri root extract. Enough to decide to see if I couldn’t imagine her up an infinite supply later. And a nice fluffy quilt. And some Chocolates.

I now understood how David and the people I’d given a second chance to over the years felt. My old life was over, and I was sad for the people I could no longer help as I had, but the possibilities for the future held a hope and wonder that I couldn’t have imagined before. A clean slate, with no shackles holding me back. This was the most wonderful gift you could give someone.

Whoever Father was, I owed him big for this blessing of new life. He wanted the universe free from the Big Man eh? Well god damnit, he would get it!

Right after I got this mare her Jeri root extract, a nice quilt, some chocolates, and two tickets to a nice play somewhere fancy.

THE END

Author's Note:

Alright everyone! There's obviously more story to be had, and you can find it here if you care to keep reading.

There's slice of life, mystery, and romance awaiting you in:

All Hail the Queen.

There also a slice of life tale starring Azur Lily you can read at:

Lifegiver.

Comments ( 302 )

Editing.... Words, to many... HURK! bleh... :pinkiesick:

Enjoy it you derps, it's good. And say hello to Epsilon Dusk... :trixieshiftright:

6832980 That would be a good name distinguisher for the 2.0...

Eh kinda sad the Luna-Dusk ship sank, but intresting world building and god forming. I do think it's pretty obvious that the scraps of clothing were from StarSwirl and Clover... That will be fun and interesting.

Aaaaaggghhh lnk to new story... but no new chapters! I wanna read it!

Comment posted by Dipti deleted Jan 14th, 2016

6833084 I needed something big to show the new one is truly different in some ways. Sorry :/

6833088 It will be up soon... Submission time + Tired Edit Pone Naps is all it's gonna take.

6833094 Yeah, I realized I needed something to differentiate telepathy from speech, because well Telepathy can be private in a crowded room, speech can't. Then I remembered the old series Animorphs, which used <...> For telepathy and I was like "Hey! There's an idea!" and used it. Sorry if it bugged you, but hopefully you get why I cant use "..." or '...' for it. And since the standard formula is to use [...] for translated text, all I had left was angle brackets or something doofy looking anyways.

6833096
6833088

I'll do it tomorrow before I go to work, hopefully... :trixieshiftleft:

The entire conversation with Dusk I was waiting for Echo to go,

I must re-read this story to try and catch any other references you made, it may take some time to find them all.

6833122 It woulda. But she never asked the right question :c Now there's an arcane intelegence sitting here all sads it didn't get to finish the movie quote from the one film it has access to.

Don't like the Depry ship.

Already got the next one faved. Eagerly awaiting.

6833151
Think Derpy will be a cute ship. At the very least her friendship will make for a massive power up

6833152 Not much longer. Just a few hours. Edits needed and Popmannn had to do the whole Epilogue tonight. I wanted to give everyone this bit tonight so well you know... I dont wanna be a slave driver. Frankly I should pay him...

6833155 I think your forgot to type something here...

6833158 took a min to edit the post.

6833165 Ah gotcha. I also agree that it's a good ship, but then there's me with knowing the full history of the Derpy in my AU. (Also I think Admiral Q just likes bitching :P)

Oh so good.....so much changes with just a few words. Looks like one of those 'little changes like what sort of things you like' included what Dusk found physically attractive about Luna.

The Queen is Dead! All Hail the new Queen! Long Live the Queen! :pinkiehappy:

6833213 I know right? It's amazing what a few sentances can do!

Welcome to Pony Effect 2: Dusks Return

She even found her first crew Member xD

I hope there will be lot of DLC!

6833325 Oh god.... I need to have her use a Sheppard line now.

Meep...
This has been a fantastic journey so far and i have loved every step.

I would like to ask permission to join your great company as a comrade, if you would have me.

With greetings,

Knight Sergeant Brave Guardian

6833370 I suppose my answer must depend on what you mean by "join your great company as a comrade". Could you elaborate?

6833400 well, what i mean is this: I would like to join your side in this verse that you have and help if there will be any fighting in the sequels like in this story you just finished.


In short, i would be honored to join your army unit in this storyline as a companion, comrade or something

6833432 Oh. Well, I do sometimes put my IRL friends OCs into my stories... I'll think about it. PM me details on any character you'd like me to use and if it's a good character, I'll think about it. I probably wont put them in anything more than a minor roll if anything, jsut a heads up.

Is Dusk going to become a goddess again?

6833435 Minor role? I don't need anything else, for even a minor role is more than enough for me.

Thank you for this chance.mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-1711829-1-Meme-Thank-you.jpg

6833479 Perhaps! Right now she's something between a god and a mortal. But who knows what will happen in the future? (Besides me.)

“I’m sorry.” The Echo said, “My responses are limited. You must ask the right questions.”

Is this because your brain is rotted from building the first human warp drive? No wait, it's because you stole Skylab plans and sold them to the Russians? No... is this because you were an evil oil magnate in the 1980's who decided to get in to computers? Were you a farmer who won a pig during a guess the weight contest? Are you a ponified version of Will Smith? :trollestia::pinkiehappy:

“You can stop this Cycle’s progression,” Echo continued, “by destroying the Big Man’s link to your universe, a place called the Nexus.

You should definitely destroy this place. Last time someone was involved with the "Nexus", Deanna Troi crashed the Enterprise-D.

I tested it out, you can fave and track a story before it's submitted. So go ahead and do that and everything will be up and read as soon as it's approved by mods.

I didn't know you could do that. Fave'd and tracked!

6833589

Is this because your brain is rotted from building the first human warp drive? No wait, it's because you stole Skylab plans and sold them to the Russians? No... is this because you were an evil oil magnate in the 1980's who decided to get in to computers? Were you a farmer who won a pig during a guess the weight contest? Are you a ponified version of Will Smith? :trollestia::pinkiehappy:

Echo - "Query: Am I allowed to plead the Third? ... Wait that's the one about quartering troops... uhhh..."

THAT ENDING!
So we have our new plot for the next story, were Dusk must gather a team to liberate.... well everything!
I'm so excited to see how that turns out!

also DerpyXDusk, Yes I will ship it, Now what will this ship be called? (need ideas)
(muffindusk?)

6833603 The Holy Muffin? There's more to just gathering a team. Sort of have to figure out the what and where of this mysterious "Nexus".

6833608 Just ask Q, I'm sure he knows something.

6833621 Different Nexus. Mine is sencably named because unlike that wooshy space rift containing heaven, mine is literally "a connection or series of connections linking two or more things."

6833623 Then there is your answer, you find the bit attaching your world to the Nexus, then follow it back to the Nexus, problem solved.

6833629 The best course of action therefore is to locate things which frequently vanish fromt he world and watch them! BRING ME EVERY SOCK AND TV REMOTE IN EQUESTRIA!

Yay! I hope you had fun writing this story. I will see you in the next one!

6833608 If she isn't careful something like this

might happen^^

Well, I forced myself to read the rest of the story. I don't think I'll read the sequel. The entire thing just became to unreal for me to enjoy it.

Ow! The cuteness! The weaponized cuteness! This mare needed a permit to be out in public!

:rainbowlaugh:

I really like how you portray the upper dimensions and your explanation for them, makes sense while still making you go "wtf?"

more ships + new objective - bitchy changeling = MORE AWESOME!:pinkiehappy:

6833757 Sorry you didn't like it, but thanks for the views and comments.

6833760

I really like how you portray the upper dimensions and your explanation for them, makes sense while still making you go "wtf?"

All I do is read Quantum Physics papers and turn their concepts into fantasy worlds...

6833801 ah, that explains things
but still:moustache:

6833827 Yes. Of course you realize this means Derpy is Adorable Action at a Distance.

6833830 uh.. is that good or bad?

6833848 It's a "way to smart person" joke :P that makes very little sense if you dont get that I'm talking about quantum spin and Derpy's eyes. Then it's funny!

6833850 I'll make sure to bookmark your comment and come back when I understand:twilightsmile:

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