Realms of Existence

by GMBlackjack

XVII - Rarity's Realm

The Moon.

It is a very desolate place.

It is a literal chunk of gray rock sitting in orbit around Equis that only experiences disturbance when a stray space rock hits it or when Luna decides to drag it across the sky. Other than that, the moon is a generally static, motionless, airless rock that the Stars constantly look down on from all sides, regardless of if the sun or Equis are visible.

On this lifeless rock, eight mares appeared in a flash of rainbow energy. Twilight blinked, taking in the surroundings. After she had cataloged the gray ground and starry sky, she entered a state of panic. "AIR! We need air-" Upon hearing her own voice, she stopped herself. "Oh. We're... breathing. How are we breathing!? There's no air on the moon!"

"I dunno," Rainbow Dash shrugged. "All I know is that this is AWESOME! Look! You can see the whole world from here!"

Twilight nodded. "Yes, Yes... How can I hear you!? Sound doesn't travel through a vacuum! And if we brought air with us it wouldn't still be here! Decompression!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Ah'm going to go out on a limb here and say the Tree of Harmony didn't want us dead when we arrived."

Pinkie grinned. "Yeah, going on an epic adventure to the moon and suffocating in the first two minutes would be sooooo anti-climactic! Just relax, Twilight, enjoy the view of Equis!" She bounced high into the 'air' and gestured towards the dark blue orb above them. She fell back down to the ground slowly, a bemused look on her face.

Starlight pointed at Pinkie. "...You weren't using your powers at all there, were you?"

"No, she wasn't," Twilight said. "There's less gravity on the moon."

Rarity blinked. "Well, I was going to say this place has horribly drab and grayscale... But that aspect alone makes it a wonderful place to test new design ideas... Not to mention the wonderful contrast with our pale blue dot up there..."

"It's really... something," Fluttershy said. "It puts things in perspective... That's all we are, just that little blue ball. We've never gone further than our own moon..."

There was a moment of silence as everypony let this sink in, staring at the small form of Equis.

Implode tired first, taking off into the black sky. "If the gravity is less, why isn't flying any easier?"

"Probably because you're using just your magic right now," Twilight answered. "Usually you have a lot of air to push off of."

"So the best way to move is bouncing!" Pinkie said, bouncing around the group, wildly leaping over their heads every few seconds. "Wheeee!"

The mares giggled, save for Implode, who was just looking far into the distance.

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Why was I chosen? I'm not one of the Seven..."

"Cause you'll be able to help!" Rainbow Dash offered.

Rarity put a hoof to her chin. "Or, perhaps, it's because you need to be helped."

"Or both!" Pinkie shouted.

Then Fluttershy spoke up. "Um... Does anypony know where the temple is?"

The grins vanished from everypony's face. They all turned to Twilight. "Er..." she gulped. "...No idea."

Applejack facehooved. "Ugh. We really should have asked Luna where it was. It could take weeks to scour the whole moon for it..."

Twilight sighed. "Well... We better get started then."

"So, wait," Rainbow Dash said, "we're going to spend multiple days scouring this rock for an ancient temple?"

Twilight nodded.

"LUNA!!!!!" Rainbow Dash yelled in the direction of Equis. "WHERE IS IT!?"

"I don't think she can hear you," Twilight said, "nor do I think her dreaming spells extend this far. We're on our own. We just have to look."

Rainbow Dash groaned.

Starlight shrugged. "Well, the sooner we find it the sooner we can go home, so chop chop, let's search for a needle in a haystack..."

They set off.

~~~

"I think I may know why they're taking a while, sister," Luna said.

"Oh?" Celestia said, looking up from her cake. "What could cause them three days of delay?"

Luna grinned sheepishly. "...They don't know where on the moon it is."

Celestia facehooved. "Well, that's just wonderful."

"They'll find it eventually," Luna said. "I just worry that Overglobe will get impatient and angry."

"I don't think she's like that," Celestia said. "She actually reminds me of a younger version of myself, before I realized I could live a little."

"She does protect that distasteful Ahuizotl though..."

"She owes him," Celestia said, munching. "It's as simple as that. She respects her oaths. That's admirable."

Luna rolled her eyes. "I suppose. I still don't appreciate that dog having free reign of our castle..."

"Oh, neither do I. But he hasn't done anything."

"Yet," Luna warned.

Elsewhere in the castle, Overglobe walked down a hallway. She found that all the staff and guards bowed at her as she passed. She supposed she was the equivalent of royalty, so it was understandable. That didn't mean she had to like it. She trotted up to one of the larger guest suites, knocking on it three times.

Diamond opened the door. "What brings you here?"

"I wish to discuss things with you in private."

"I do not keep secrets."

"Less of me wanting to keep things secret, more of me wanting to talk to you without other voices in the way."

"Understood." He let her enter the room. "What is it you wish to discuss?"

"Do you plan on getting your ponies out of the Realms?"

"No. It would end our connection to Truth eventually."

"How so?"

"You put a heavy weight on a group's culture. We care not for most of what you call culture, but for our way of Truth - our way of no deception, of no inhibitions. It would come to an end anywhere besides the Realm of Truth itself. Our children born here would be unable to be part of our society. Then we would die out, and our efficiency would end."

Overglobe shook her head. "I don't get you. You claim to have no emotions and that you are completely rational. Yet I don't see that. Coming at the world from a purely rational perspective, accepting only what can be proved, well... All you can be certain of is that you exist."

"It is all possible that 'reality' is nothing but an illusion. But as I mentioned to the others, being without emotion does not mean without drive or without belief. I believe the world is real. I cannot prove this, but I do have good reasonings and evidence for doing so. I believe the way of Truth is the best way to exist. I have reasons for believing this, but in the end, it cannot be proven."

Overglobe shook her head. "How can you carry on without any happiness? Joy?"

"I have something that is closest to your feeling of 'contentment.' I have no desire to change what I am or what my ponies are - and I think that altering them would be a detriment."

"...Thank you, Diamond, for this... insight. I think you are extremely wrong, but it looks like you've been this way for a long time. Perhaps I could visit your ponies one day, gauge them. But until then, I'll just leave you be and mull this over." She turned around and left.

Diamond went back to staring out his window, analyzing the skyline. He absorbed all the information he could. So many things in this world... So much to learn... He thought about what Overglobe said. He would not let his ponies leave. Not permanently, anyway. But exploring the other worlds could be worthwhile... It could be used to rebuild the Archive.

His sense picked up on someone in the doorway. By the size of the shadow on the wall and the vibration of the hoofsteps, he knew it wasn't Overglobe. Using his Inflection of Truth, he was able to tell there was a sword. He knew there was no escape from this situation, so he just stood still, accepting his fate. In his final moments, Diamond didn't feel anything - he just wondered how things would play out once he was assassinated. He knew there'd be chaos, and that he was being removed precisely because he could detect lies. A deception was planned... The blade found Diamond's neck and spine in a millisecond. He died almost instantly.

The intruder closed the door and locked it, trotting away.

Only a few halls away, Overglobe had returned to her own suite, setting herself down on one of the couches with a glass of sparkling fruit juice. She looked out the window at the sky, pondering how the mission on the moon was progressing. She really wished she was there with them, able to hurry things along, to free her ponies. She often claimed New Mareu was safe around her subjects. This was a lie - the guardians didn't catch everything. Sometimes spheres made it through. Sometimes they appeared in the city despite their best efforts. Ponies died somewhat regularly from the environment.

They needed a place they could go to be safe. Here... Here, in Central, was a place infinitely better than the Realm. Everything was in equilibrium, and it was peaceful. Like a dream come true to Overglobe.

Overglobe heard a knock on her door. She unlocked it with her magic. "Come in."

Ahuizotl strode into the suite. "I believe I have reasoned out which Realm Meadowbrook is in."

"Oh? How so?"

"She was a hermit, so no Realm that is occupied. No realm with chaotic tendencies either, which narrows it down to Magic and Life. Now, if you were a reclusive ancient wizard who lived to practice magic where would you go?"

"Magic."

"Precisely. If she's still alive, she's in there somewhere - probably suffering from the Realm of Magic's curse. I believe it to be thus: anyone who spends too much time there, will turn into a crystal. Evidence: Sham Rock."

Overglobe nodded. "I see."

"Once they return, we can have them take us to her!"

"What makes you think they will?"

"Twilight is a wizard herself - even if she isn't interested in immortality since she already has it, she would still want to talk with Meadowbrook. And with you asking, I don't think we can be turned down, seeing as you're basically royalty."

Overglobe smirked. "I suppose I am." She took a long sip of her juice. She then rummaged under her desk, grabbing hold of a book - a Daring Do book. "I understand that Yearling embellished a lot in her tales, but I also understand these are based on true events, Ahuizotl."

Ahuizotl shrugged. "You already knew I wasn't a - how do you put it? - a respectable individual." He took a moment to chuckle. "You know the immortality is just a means to an end for me. The fun bit comes later - imagine what could be accomplished now that these Realms are open!"

"Careful," Overglobe said, "even you don't want to destroy the world."

Ahuizotl smirked. "Oh no, definitely not that. Not completely, at least."

"Mhm..." Overglobe murmured. Ahuizotl took the hint and walked out into the halls.

Overglobe frowned. She was playing a dangerous game with that one... She wondered when he'd try to betray her. After the meeting with Meadowbrook? Before? The frown evolved into a scowl as she pondered further - She hated this, she hated him, but he was very useful. But she knew she had to let him go at some point...

She picked up the Daring Do book and started reading once again. She had to admit the style of the writing was rather good, and she was on the edge of her seat while reading it. She was forced to admit that 'research' was only part of the reason she had the entire boxed collection sitting in her suite right now.

To her annoyance, right in the middle of the last chapter, there was a knock at the door. She sighed. "Come in."

Trekker strode into the room, an unpleasant expression on his face like usual. Overglobe frowned. "Why are you here?"

"We need to talk about this place and what we could do with it."

Overglobe raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"This place, these ponies - they are weak. They have no inflections. We could easily control them with our full forces at our disposal."

Overglobe couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You.. what? These ponies, who have shown us nothing but kindness and understanding, these ponies who have helped us and asked for little in return - you want to betray them!?"

"Why not?" he asked. "It's not like you and I didn't weasel and cheat our way to the top of New Mareu."

"I'm beginning to think you and I had very different reasons for doing so." Overglobe narrowed her eyes. "I saw Implode fight. She was plenty good enough to become a guardian. I know you were never a good father... But I've heard many things that suggest you were absolutely abhorrent. You aren't the stallion I thought you were. I thought you had some honor in there, that you would defend your ponies. But now..." She stared him right in the eyes. "Do ponies only exist to pleasure you and meet your needs?"

"Yes," Trekker said, stern. "Shame. You could have stood beside me."

Overglobe frowned. "You wouldn't dare harm me. They'd kill you if they found out. And Diamond can detect lies! Applejack as well!"

"Diamond has already been taken care of. And our ponies trust my word. Not to mention that I have those who are loyal to me and not you."

Overglobe lit her horn - but quickly found herself hoofcuffed, gassed, and her horn broken. She tried to scream, but couldn't. Trekker stood over her, a slight smile on his face. "I'm going to enjoy putting you in your place." He created a sword, angling it right for her throat.

Ahuizotl decided he'd had enough at this point. He snuck away from is hiding spot by the ajar door, his stomach turning into knots.

This was going to be a big problem...

~~~

"Day six..." Starlight said. "Starlight's log. We are having lunch again, conjured up by Rainbow Dash... None of us have found anything in our searches. And somepony went over the same spot they checked yesterday"

"Starlight," Applejack said, "we know you aren't recording anything."

"And we all know it was me," Pinkie added.

Starlight groaned, biting on her sandwich. "I'm bored okay? Trying to spice things up here!"

"You could join our game, dear," Rarity said, laying a card down while she sipped a milkshake. "Zed," she announced.

"Aha!" Pinkie giggled. "But I have a reverse kumquat incubator!"

"You both lose," Implode said. "Ace of spaces. Thing of X is derailed the moment kumquats come into play. I win."

Pinkie and Rarity stared at Implode, jaws hanging wide open. "I... I say she picked up on this rather quickly... Congratulations Implode."

Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her forehead. "Right now the rule of funny hates me! Oh woe to me, for my hubris was large!"

"You make no sense," Implode observed.

Pinkie gave no indication that she'd even heard Implode, instead pretending to have a seizure on the ground.

Starlight rolled her eyes. "Concluding lunch today I found that the average intelligence of the crew has not improved."

"We are not on a spaceship Starlight!" Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm recommending Ensign Dash for a reprimand."

"Repri- wait, Ensign? I'm at least a commander!"

Starlight rolled her eyes.

"Okay girls," Twilight said, "soon as we finish eating we spread out again." She glanced at Rainbow Dash. "No generating extra sandwiches just so you can extend lunch."

"Aw..." Rainbow Dash said, dematerializing the foodstuffs in her hooves. She stretched her wings. "Fine. Let's get going."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Hold up, where's Fluttershy?"

Twilight stood up, looking around. "I.. Don't know."

"Over that hill," Applejack said. Nopony asked how she had figured this out, they just took it as fact. They marched over the lunar ridge, seeing Fluttershy's bright yellow body the moment they reached the top. But that wasn't the only thing they saw.

Less than a mile away were seven giant pillars made of a diamond-like material. It was in perfect condition - no wear, no buildup of lunar dust, not even signs of use. Just a pristine temple that shone brightly.

"I found it," Fluttershy said to herself - not yet aware of the ponies behind her.

Both Starlight and Pinkie exploded in cheers and laughter at the same time, running for the temple at high speed, startling Fluttershy.

"Oh! Hi! ...Bye." She shrugged - always in such a rush. To her mild annoyance, Rainbow Dash zoomed by, grabbing hold of Fluttershy along the way. With a yelp, she was dragged and dropped into the temple. Twilight teleported herself there along with the rest of those who weren't running at top speed.

The eight mares were laughing, cheering, and smiling - even Implode had the softest of smirks. Twilight held up the Seven Sided Chest of Chicomoztok. "Let's do this!" She slammed the Chest into the central podium, making a very satisfying click. It dialed the Realm of Life first, the red light of the portal's edge tinting the color of the lunar regolith ominously. Twilight turned the Chest, the Realm of Echoes appearing next, and a mirror showed an image of Twilight clicking the Chest again. She hit the Realm of Magic next, though no large crystals were in view. Then, with a fourth click, it dialed a white place where a single giant eye existed, staring at them through the portal.

Rarity gulped. "...It's expecting us."

"Go on," Rainbow Dash said, "You should go in first. It's your Realm."

Rarity bit her lip, but nodded. Shaky, she strode through the portal into the Realm of Dreams, her friends close behind her. The eye never blinked and never took its gaze off any of them. The ponies were on guard, ready to get out at the first sign of trouble.

Rarity tried to call out to Twilight but found no sound came out of her mouth. She realized she couldn't hear anything at all - and judging from the confused faces of her friends, they couldn't either. She turned back to the eye. Well, here we are, she thought.

The entire Realm began to shift. The plain, white backdrop alit with the colors of the rainbow. Shapes, forms, and lines drew themselves in the distance. Trees popped into existence, the moon rose, the sun set, and the two collided together to form a black star.

Rarity couldn't see her friends anymore. She couldn't see the portal either. Fear surged in her mind. She tried to move - only to discover she was floating in midair, not standing on anything. Colors flashed before her eyes. Hands and giant eyeballs flew through her field of view like there was no tomorrow. Symbols she didn't understand appeared, spelling out some alien word. Stars appeared around her on all sides, shaking like they were laughing. Then they exploded, and Rarity found herself standing on a microscope being examined by a being made of stars and nebulae.

Then everything went black.

She saw a single white sphere appear in front of her, the size of a small marble. One moment later, two white spheres appeared above the first, orbiting each other slowly. The two shot beams of energy towards each other, creating a ball of energy in the center. Above that appeared three marbles, also shooting energy towards their center of mass, creating a sphere of light between them. Above that, there were four marbles. Then five. All of the marbles shot energy into the center of their systems, creating a central point.

When the sixth layer appeared, Rarity saw an image in the central energy - a tall school with a horse statue in front and a bunch of brightly colored humans walking about. She was almost certain this was the Canterlot High Twilight had told her about.

Then the seventh layer appeared, each of the seven spheres displaying one of the Realms. The center - the culmination of their energy - showed an image of Canterlot.

Then an eighth layer appeared, a set of eight Realms orbiting a Central Rarity couldn't fully see. Rarity expected to see a ninth layer form - but instead, the eight layer exploded before her eyes, spraying matter and energy violently in all directions. Seven brightly glowing sparks drifted down to the Seventh Layer.

The stacked layers of marbles disappeared, replaced with an image of Sperion, though he seemed really far away, and had no limbs to speak of. He was standing before the giant eye, and next to him was a yellow pony.

A yellow alicorn, with a purple heptagon cutie mark.

She looked furious, screaming something at the eye Rarity couldn't hear. Then the alicorn vanished. Sperion shook, then vanished as well.

The image vanished, replaced with seven little sparks of light. One by one, each of them was violently destroyed, an image of Congeal's cutie mark coming into existence as it happened. Eventually, only one spark remained, and it grew before Rarity's eyes. The spark bulged, becoming flesh, flashing a psychedelic color scheme around it until it took the shape of the giant eye. It looked down at her.

A finger pointed at Rarity. It copied itself hundreds of times over, hands and fingers surrounding Rarity on all sides.

What do you want from me?

I N F L E C T I O N

How? In answer, she felt a burning sensation in her regrown eye. She felt it switch. Suddenly her eye was no longer showing her physical things - it was showing her thoughts. She could see the mind waves in this place - the seven of her friends alongside the tremendous jumbled wave of the Realm itself drowning the others out like a foghorn.

Rarity's two visions began to conflict, the colors of one distracting from the waves of the others. She experienced an extreme headache with the extreme influx of information. She tried to scream.

An image of her brain appeared before her, with her eyepatch strapped to it. A mind wave brushed through her. C O N D I T I O N S E L F

Rarity managed to reach into her mane and pull out the eyepatch - she had brought it just in case. She put it over her normal eye.

And suddenly, all at once, the thoughts became clear.

Is Rarity okay?

A world has already been destroyed!

Hope hers doesn't scar her like it did me...

Who was September?

Can she fix me now?

Six inflections - Oh. Eavesdropping are we?

Rarity quickly moved her eyepatch to the other eye, shutting out the thoughts, letting the usual color of the Realm of Dreams flooding her mind. Right in front of her was a six-limbed Sperion.

All Seven now... Sperion thought to her deliberately, placing the words in her mind.

Rarity didn't know how, but she sensed the Realm talking to Sperion. She flipped back to her mind-wave eye. She didn't catch what the Realm said, but she heard Sperion's response.

No. You have no right. You're just an amalgamation that can never agree with itself! I... I... I need time to think. His thoughts vanished from her sights - presumably, he had left.

The thought waves of the Realm plowed into Rarity in that moment, sending her mind reeling. She felt new information being installed in her mind. Synapses were adjusted, consciousness twisted. In a couple of seconds, she knew exactly how to mold the minds of ponies to her whim.

She switched her eyepatch again, returning to regular sight. She could see the portal again, and her friends. The Realm was white once more, with only the eight of them and the eye occupying it. The eye's pupil contracted, and they all felt a single word enter their minds. G O

They couldn't have refused if they wanted to. The eight mares left the Realm of Dreams, returning to the moon once again. All of them were breathing heavily.

"That... was trippy," Pinkie observed. "I mean, I've been on trips before but that..."

Implode walked up to Rarity. "...You can do it now?"

Rarity nodded. Instinctually, she flipped to her other eye, looking closely at Implode's thoughts. They were everywhere, fixed to a wave that was a mostly inactive, slowly vibrating strand that carried with it a slight plea of desperation. Rarity focused, using her mind to activate the stagnant strand of Implode. The wave became hurried, experiencing more hills and valleys, resyncing with the rhythm of life. It pulsed like a healthy heartbeat.

Implode gasped, her heart racing along with her mind. "W-wha?"

Rarity didn't know exactly how she knew what she was doing, but know she did. She stretched the wave out to calm the racing feeling in Implode. She created waves from the aether, inserting emotions back into Implode's consciousness one at a time. Lastly, she tapped the wave, causing it to resuscitate, fluctuating with the slight randomness all sapient beings had.

"There," Rarity said, switching to her regular eye. "How do you feel?"

Implode's face was blank. She blinked, taking a look at her hooves, her flank, and lastly her wings. She flapped them, stretching them out. A grin broke out on her face and she launched into the air. "I feel bucking amazing Doc! Ha HA ha!" She fell to the ground, continually laughing. She rolled over to Rarity, rushing her into a death grip hug. She dragged Rainbow Dash into it as well. "THANK! YOU!" She cried, laughing through a shower of tears. "I... I'm me again!"

G O The Realm ordered once more.

Without questioning it, Twilight rotated the Chest and dialed the Realm of Power.

Comments

[mastermenthe]

Trekker has hidden depths.

[Ciber]

8158217 Evil ones.

[ferret]

Aww, how considerate of Trekker. He's healing Implode's emotional numbing by giving her even more reason to hate his guts. And he's helping her make friends, too! Because the other seven are going to be just as happy to see him as Implode is. They're going to share so much in common!

[FM-96]

This was a great chapter. I enjoy this kinda mindfuckery.

You know the deal by now. ^^

8158126
Huh, TIL about lung dragons. (I actually tried googling that to see if there were alternative meanings, but I found nothing except the organ. Needless to say, that was a rather funny mental image.)

[Twilight Connor]

Applejack read on the procedures to fix broken horns. Am I the only one who paid attention to the library's contents?

[redmar]

Trekker vastly underestimates the ponies of Equestria and when his people are in Equestria they can free Congeal who would prevent Trekker from revealing the knowledge of the Realms by terminating him.