Realms of Existence

by GMBlackjack

Epilogue

Under the blue sky, there was a large crater where the town of Ponyville once stood. In the center of this crater, there was an elaborate statue, shining under the light of the brilliant sun. It was a statue of seven mares and a large, seven-limbed, thorny being. The mares were all hugging, and the arms of the creature were wrapped around them, one for each of their small forms. They all stood there, motionless.

Rarity's eyes were open - both of them - her eyepatch dangling off one of her ears. A look of awestruck wonder was imprinted on her face. Fluttershy's eyes were closed, trails of tears on her cheek, her lips turned in a soft, serene, smile. Pinkie's eyes were shut tight, and it looked like she was stuck laughing for eternity. Applejack wore a sad smile, looking wistfully into the distance. Starlight appeared to be at one with the universe, her face calm and accepting. Rainbow Dash had her wings spread out, her face one of intense exhilaration, a perfect form of a pegasus in graceful flight.

Twilight was looking up at the sky, her eyes open, an expression of deep thought on her face - the face of somepony with an idea.

Sperion's eye was open, staring right into the sky along with her.

They stood, motionless. A bird landed on them, and a breeze blew a few leaves around. It was a perfect moment. The bird left the statue when greeted by a brilliant flash of light.

Discord and Implode stood inches from the Statue. Implode grimaced. "Oh..."

Discord sighed. "Well, they did it. They saved the world..." He looked at Fluttershy, tears coming out of his own eyes. "Th.. Fluttershy..." He fell silent.

Implode was crying as well; she buried her face in Discord's leg. "...None of them deserved to die! None!"

Discord held her close, despite himself. "No. They didn't. They are the best ponies I know."

They stood there, silent, for several seconds - contemplating the sacrifice the heroes had made to ensure the safety of their home. It had been a game of sacrifice in the end - Sperion was willing to sacrifice the world itself, and the Seven weren’t - they would give themselves instead. The entire story had been marked by sacrifice... September giving up what made her a pony, the Ponies of Truth giving up their own minds, the Seven losing their home... Was it all just to stave off the inevitable decay? Or would there be an end to it?

And then a bright light flickered into existence, expanding into a strange magic construct in the shape of an upside-down bowl. The bowl had many gear-like imprints on its exterior, and it made a strange ticking noise. Discord and Implode started in baffled amazement as a lattice of rainbow magic appeared out of the bowl's bottom. Seven spheres of organic material were created in the air, and each one was slowly shaped into the form of a pony. Two earth ponies, two pegasi, two unicorns, and one alicorn were created right before their eyes from scratch - carefully created from the rainbow spell. The magic ran out - and the bowl vanished. The seven ponies were unceremoniously dropped onto the ground.

"Holy Quesadillas!" Twilight shouted with glee. "That actually worked!"

Rainbow Dash shook her head, disoriented. "Uh... What did?"

"I used our combined power to re-create ourselves at a certain point in the future, creating us as new ponies - without a connection to our destinies as the Seven! We're alive!" She laughed with glee.

Rarity blinked - both of her eyes. One at a time. "Er...I'm not seeing any thoughts..."

"That's left with the destinies," Applejack said. "Ah think. Can't really know for sure..."

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Wait - our awesome powers are gone?"

"Yep!" Pinkie said, smirking knowingly.

"I'm not complaining..." Fluttershy admitted.

Twilight turned to look at the statue then - those seven ponies stuck in there were still them - or, perhaps, it was better to think of them as the Seven. The seven ponies out here were... different. They may have had all the memories, experiences, souls, and bodies - but... The destinies were still in that statue, attached to something. Something that provided an anchoring presence for the world. She looked at Sperion. "It... Wasn't all us though. Sperion... Sperion was filled with life at the last moment. He knew what I was trying to do..." A big smile crossed her face, tears rolling across her features. "I... I wouldn't have had enough time to compile it on my own. He did it for me. He saved us."

Everypony was silent.

Then Discord couldn't take it anymore - he scooped all of them up in a big hug, laughing. Implode tackled them, and they became a big pile of bodies laughing and hugging under the sun.

It truly was over.

~~~

Except it wasn't, not completely. With the Seven and Speroin gone - and Congeal - most of the strains on the Seventh Level were removed from the equation - but not all of them. There were the ponies of New Mareu, straining the fabric by practicing their craft in Central. Twilight determined that the world could survive a generation of ponies with minor Inflections, so they were allowed to enter Equestria, as long as they stayed on their island. Silver didn't complain, she used her place to convince the other settlements in the Realm of Power to follow.

The same deal was offered to the ponies in the Realm of Truth. All accepted, in the end, once everything was fully explained to them - they saw that straining reality was far too dangerous to continue doing. The crystalline ones in the Realm of Magic didn't leave - they were more magic than pony at this point. A few did leave temporarily to help rebuild Equis, though.

It was a long process that took many years, but eventually, Equis was repaired. Cracks in the earth were filled, mountains reformed, settlements rebuilt - some from the ground up. When this was mostly accomplished, the time came to seal off the Realms completely.

Some Guardians of New Mareu and crystalline ones were in the Realm of Power, looking through the still-open portal at the moon temple. They destroyed the last of the Original Seven's temples with their magics, leaving the Chest on the moon to freeze. And then, at last, the crystalline ones returned to the Realm of Magic, and the rest of the ponies were ready to destroy the portal to New Mareu that had been kept open for so long.

A few things needed to be done first. Fluttershy had her many animals moved to her cottage - it had been far enough outside Ponyville that it was spared. She left Browncoat and his herd - they belonged more in the Realm of Life than Equis.

Ahuizotl was found in the Realm of Magic, having become a crystalline one. He said he rather liked the existence as a magical being and had learned to appreciate the immortality it offered. He never returned to Equis.

Starlight spent a lot of time in the Realm of Echoes in the last days - she had no more inflection, but she talked to many flashing phantoms of ponies long forgotten in that place, including her predecessor - she never told anyone what was said to her.

There would be no more journeys into the Realms after this. The temples were all reduced to rubble, and those living on Equis with Inflections would stop straining reality by the end of their lives. There was always the possibility somepony would figure out how to travel again, but it was a risk that had always been present throughout all history. It was deemed an acceptable risk and no "New Order" was formed to keep it from happening. September's mistake was not to be repeated.

Yuku was found dead in her cell, her brain split in two at the pain of Congeal's permanent death. She was never intended to have an existence beyond the Order, Congeal made sure of that.

In the end, the world was healed, and things went back to normal for the most part. Most ponies still don't know exactly what caused the world to almost end, and most are content to make up stories and legends from the statue in the Ponyville crater. The ponies immortalized in the statue make no attempt to dispel the many wild legends. With so many false stories, few ever come across the truth.

After the portal was destroyed, life marched on...

~~~

Ponyville was a quaint little town built into a crater. Houses lined the outer rim and streets crisscrossed in a scaffold pattern several yards above the ground. A small lake glistened in the center, a statue sitting atop a podium in the center, and the entire bowl was filled with green grass. Animals of all sorts - some alien, such as a two-headed snake or floating manta ray - frolicked around the town. There was no castle - all that remained of Twilight's abode was a heap of crystal that sparkled in the sun. A giant tree had been grown next to it, inside of which was a library. Among the many bookshelves and magic crystal table, Twilight Sparkle handed Rainbow Dash a book.

The Legacy of Daring Do: The Realms of Existence. The cover was an image of September's cutie mark overlaid an image of the Seven-Sided Chest.

Rainbow Dash squeed. "You... You really wrote it!"

"Yes, I did," she said. "Just the way she would have wanted it. Crazy, embellished, full of action, but with a barely-warped true story at its core. It'll be published anonymously, but I've worked out a deal with the publisher so it'll get a lot of press." She chuckled. "I can only imagine the fandom arguments on it..."

"Hoo boy, it'll be brutal. If I hadn't already told Quibble what happened, I expect he'd go to war with me over it." She smirked. "...That might actually be fun..."

Twilight nodded, strolling to the window and looking out at Ponyville. "...I wish she could see this."

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "Me too."

~~~

"Fluttershy, dear, you're playing the wrong card."

"Oh, sorry. Which one was it again?"

"The chocolate one, ya silly!"

"Trixie still finds this confusing."

The four mares heard the bell ring. Rarity cleared her throat. "Carousel Boutique, how may I help..." she paused, cocking her head. "Implode?"

Implode stood there, face as straight as it possibly could be. "I want a dress. Stat."

Rarity blinked. "...What kind and why?"

"...That Spike of yours just asked me out and a date and I intend to look nice."

Rarity's jaw dropped. "You? And him? Wha- bu- he-?"

Implode raised an eyebrow. "You got a problem with that marshmallow?"

"No... No... Perfectly fine..." She turned to the fabrics and started muttering under her breath. "The Stars is Spike thinking...?"

Implode looked at the three mares at the table and grinned. "I'll take Rarity's spot."

"We're doomed," Pinkie said. "I fold! Nope! Abandon ship!"

"Oh, am I just too good for you, little pink pansy?"

"YES!" Pinkie shouted, slamming a door she hadn't even opened, somehow.

"Trixie has somewhere else to be she just remembered," Trixie squirmed. "A lawn needs to be mowed." She galloped out of the boutique, her cards going flying.

"I'll play," Fluttershy said. "But I don't really know what I'm doing..."

"Trust me. It helps," Implode said.The two pegasi laughed, starting the game. Somehow Rarity lost even though she wasn't playing.

~~~

Starlight sat on the hill at the edge of the crater, looking at the stars.

Or Stars?

She didn't know.

"Ah see you're here again."

"Yeah..." Starlight said. "I'm just... wondering."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "'Bout what?"

"About everything. The original Seven rigged everything in honor of their friend, and refused to stop because they thought it was right. September became Congeal because she thought it was right. We fought Sperion, and Sperion fought us for the same reasons. We all thought it was right- and were all willing to sacrifice."

"Starlight... It's been years."

"Were they really any different from us?"

Applejack frowned. "No. Ah don't think so. Ah think we just got lucky and were right in the end."

"Is that what it comes down to? Luck?"

"Fate? Determination?" Applejack shrugged. "Ah dunno, Starlight, Ah dunno. I do know that, in this life, some things won't ever make sense. But you will always have your friends, regardless of some 'connection' hogwash existing or not. When everything seems the bleakest, you just need to have some faith."

Starlight smiled, looking at the Stars. "Some faith..." A calming breeze wafted through the night, bringing a smile to their lips.

The moon shone down on Ponyville, glinting off the statue. The petrified form of Twilight the Seventh looked right back at the gray globe, curiously studying it.

Many, many miles away, the surface of the moon itself shone back at the planet of Equis, like it always had for millennia. However, things were slightly different now, and any amateur astronomer could identify the new crater on the lunar body. In the center of this crater were bits and pieces of diamond pillar scattered everywhere, the fresh moon dust covering large portions of them. But one object stood out, unharmed, as it always had been.

Half buried in the sand, the Seven Sided Chest of Chicomoztok sat, motionless under the starlight. It glinted with the prospects of the future, waiting patiently under the beautiful night sky.

Author's Note:

Welp, that's ANOTHER big story done - and I will say, I have much more pride in this story than I do Wanderlost. Even if that space-adventure is more popular, I like this one because I put more effort into it - and the pacing is much better handled. (I have issues with the pacing in Wanderlost that I don't think I can fix without a complete re-write, and I'm not doing that.)

Anyway, besides that, thanks for reading this all the way through. Back when I wrote this, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to resolve all the plot threads in a way that made sense - but now that it's all up, I can't really see it much differently than it is now. Thank you for giving me reason to complete this undertaking - and to move on to other undertakings.

Regardless, tell me what you thought, go ahead and point out any mistakes/inconsistencies I made, and please, what was this book like as a whole?

Also, if you're interested in learning about some of the lore I couldn't fit into the story, go to this blog post: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/741780/the-realms-close

Until next time...

-GM, master of OMNIVERSE V.

Comments

[Ponygood11]

Hmm. It feels a bit cheaty to be able to reverse the effects of a sacrifice. And a willing one, too. Don't see anyone else complaining, though.

Thank you for such a cool story.

[GMBlackjack]

8221347

I could have kept it that way - I actually considered doing it, in the end - but that would have swung the other way - it really would have made everything feel cheap, and the world might have fallen apart without their guidance and knowledge of what was happening. They needed to guide the world to stability.

That being said, I couldn’t have it be a non-sacrifice - they lost their powers and Destinies. Sperion also had the option at the very end to save himself, to do what he wanted - but he gave himself up for their plan instead.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

-GM, master of reads.

[mastermenthe]

It makes perfect sense: if you're in the middle of rewriting reality, then you're in the middle of rewriting reality and you're free to add things while you're in the middle of fixing things.

[Cutie Honey]

Thanks for the story, it was my pleasure to read.

[ferret]

I would've thought they'd have to avoid returning to their Realm, or they'd get that strong Inflection again. Anyway, it was an okay story. I really liked the speculation on the nature of existence, even though the Realms amounted to seven tons of technobabble. I still don't get what September was trying to do. The characters were... hard to relate to. I didn't like Sperion, or Meadowbrook, or the Eye, or Overglobe, or September, or Trapper, or Ahuizotl, and you weren't supposed to like villains, but there was just so much of them in this story that it got... tedious. Like, constant battles of will between people who've given up and people who have no clue. I was waiting for somepony to use a black sphere to shatter Ahuizotl when we least expected it, but alas. Nothing really unexpected happened, but this wasn't some sort of mystery novel so I guess it didn't need to be full of plot twists and surprises. The sacrifice at the end was touching, I suppose, but it really happened too fast in the wake of Sperion's infodump, so it was hard to be really emotionally invested in it. But then again, who wants to get traumatized by a long and agonizing drawn-out sacrifice? The descriptions of the strange effects of the Realms were very vivid and well done. You made it easy to imagine getting mutilated, brainwashed or crushed into the gravity well of a black hole, not that I wanted to imagine what that was like.

I dunno. I'd give it a... 6.5/10 I guess. Nothing stellar, but worth reading.