A New World, A New Way: Requiem from the Lostbelt

by Metroid Prime

Advent of Chaldea

Kirschtaria Wodime and Ritsuka Fujimaru both walked into the mess hall at the same time.

Upon getting inside, they were greeted by the sight of Chaldea’s senior staff members all sitting around several tables. Mash Kyrielight, Ophelia Phamrsolone, and Akuta Hinako all sat at one table. Meanwhile, Scandinavia Peperoncino aka “Pepe”, sat with Kadoc Zemlupus, Director Goredolf Musik, Sherlock Holmes, and Leonardo da Vinci.

Upon noticing the two masters enter, Pepe in his usual cheerful voice called out to them.

“Kirschtaria! Ritsuka! Good Morning! How was your sleep? Hopefully, better than the beds that we had to share on the Shadow Border am I right?”

The last part got a few chuckles out of the people at Pepe’s table as well as both Ritsuka and Kirschtaria.

“Well, now that you mentioned it I did have a very good sleep for the first time in weeks. Thank you for asking Pepe.”

“Good good, now hurry up and grab a seat, Sion will call us to the entrance room soon.”

The leader of Team A and his second in command grabbed their food and sat with the table that had the most people.

It had been 2 weeks since the remaining members of Chaldea had finally arrived at the Wandering Sea. After going through a couple of Lostbelts, as well as the realization of learning what their actions would mean for the people of those dead-end worlds, they could finally breathe easier now. One of the first things they did upon docking was making proper repairs to the Shadow Border after the damage it sustained during its trip, being flipped over does cause quite a mess.

After being introduced to Sion, a member of the Atlas Academy, her mysterious servant only known as “Captain”, not only set about repairing the Border but mostly converting the Wandering Sea into a more suitable facility for Chaldea so that they wouldn’t have to work out of their vehicle 24/7. Once everything was finished, the first thing everyone agreed to do was have a proper meal and breakfast before attending the first strategy meeting since arriving at this mountain that moved in between the textures of the world.

“I must say,” Kirschtaria began. “I am impressed at how fast that servant of Sion’s managed to convert the entirety of the Wandering Sea into a near replica of Chaldea with the number of resources that we had.”

“I must concur with Kirschtaria,” Goredolf said. “That Director’s room that they built for me is exactly what I asked for. It’s discreet, fully stocked, and has a luxurious bathroom to go with it. I really must give them my full praise once I see them again. What about you Ritsuka? How did you have those servants commission your room?”

“Well, I didn’t really ask for anything in particular. I just wanted the same room I had back at Chaldea. Nothing fancy really.”

“Oh, I see, well normally I would write that off as the mindset of a commoner, but there is a novelty in being nostalgic.”

Pepe patted Ritsuka’s back.

“Well, that’s our little Ristuka for you. He never wants anything more or less than what he's given!”

As the conversation went on, at the other table, Mash looked toward the other group with disappointment in her eyes. Something not unnoticed by Ophelia.

“Mash?”

“Oh! Yes, Ophelia?”

“Is there something wrong?”

“Uh no..not really.”

“Are you sure?”

“Actually, well...I just kinda wished Senpai and Wodime would have sat with us.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it Mash,” Akuta said, her head peeking out of her book for once.

Both girls turned to look at their normally anti-social friend. “What do you mean by that Akuta?” Ophelia asked.

The bookworm once again looked down from her novel. “I’m just saying that they read the room so to speak.”

“Read the room?”

“Yes, they obviously came to the conclusion that this was the girl’s table and thought to leave our space to ourselves.”

Mash’s eyes widened. “R-really, I didn’t think they would matter that much considering how close we all are.”

“Trust me Mash, sometimes even girls need a little time to themselves.”

*cough*wow*cough*

Akuta turned to Ophelia who tried her best to look innocent. “What was that Ophelia?”

“Oh, nothing….”

“Spit it out.”

“Well, I’m just saying. Considering god knows how much time you spent without your ‘man’, I thought you of all people would be more open to having the boys sit out our table if the desire to so much as came up.” Ophelia flashed a small smile. Akuta only gave her a frown and dove back into her book.

Back at the other table, another more important matter was being discussed.

“Please let me have this just this once!” Kadoc said.

“Calm down Kadoc I understand your position,” Da Vinci said. “But the first servant who gets summoned will be determined after the meeting with Sion is over. Besides, it’s not like Anastasia’s saint graph is going anywhere.”

“I know that it’s just that...you know, ever since the Russian Lostbelt I...” Memories flashed through Kadoc’s mind, him clutching his servant in his arms. Her face was half gone, but she was still smiling. “I just really want all of us to have our servants back in case of emergency ya know.”

“I completely understand Kadoc,” Pepe said. “Love is like chocolate, once you have a taste, you will always crave more!”

“That’s not why Pepe! I just, Gah!” Kadoc slammed his head on the table, Pepe still patting his back.

Then a voice came on the announcer.

“Attention! Attention! This is your Wandering Sea Host, Sion Eltnam Sokaris! Will all Chaldea Security staff members please report to the command room for the first Chaldea-Atlas joint strategy meeting. This will start in five minutes so don’t be late!”

Goredolf finished harffing down a breakfast that consisted of scrambled eggs, muffins, sausages, bacon, orange juice, apple juice, and french toast. He then wiped his face with a napkin and got up.

“Well, that’s our cue! Let’s go, everyone!”

-

After everybody had finished eating, they all gathered in the repurposed entrance of the Wandering Sea, which resembled the Command room back at the old Chaldea base.

Once everyone was here, Sion adjusted her glasses and began to speak.

“Glad you all could make it! How were your rooms? Did you get a good sleep? Got any complaints? If you do, please direct them to Captain and you’ll be put on a waiting list until we can resolve your issue. But before that let’s get down to business.”

Sion’s face then became serious.

“First of all let’s recap what has transpired so far, even though I went through your logs, feel free to correct me I got something wrong.”

*Ahem*

“On December 31st, 2019. Chaldea is attacked and destroyed. That same day, a pillar of light streaked down from space, while 5 others remained in orbit. After which you all undertook a Zero Sail to escape the Oprichniki. And although you only spent a week inside the Sea of Imaginary Numbers, nearly a year had passed when you emerged into standard space. You did this by using the sole connection you all had left at the time---the Oprichniki. This led you to the Russian Lostbelt, a cold alternate timeline inhabited by the Yaga, humans whose ancestors have fused with Phantasmal Species. As you attempted to make sense of your current situation and what was going on, you ended up fighting a Yaga version of Ivan the Terrible, the chosen King of the Lostbelt.”

“After killing Ivan, you managed to cut down Orochi, the Fantasy Tree of Emptiness that supported the Russian Lostbelt, although the actual cutting was done by what you guys claimed was an unknown lifeform that didn’t register on any instruments as anything other than a hole in space. While I am still trying to determine what the Trees actually are, based on the data about their internal gravitational field, I think we can make an educated guess. Once the tree was gone, the storm wall surrounding the Lostbelt disappeared and you were finally able to pick up my broadcast from the Wandering Sea. From which you then decided to make a beeline for.”

“But on your way, you ran into another obstacle. During a Zero Dive in an attempt to escape one of the servants of the Alien God, you ended up in a subspecies Lostbelt that was hidden from plain view, the Norse Lostblet. In this timeline, Ragnarok went awry and its history was stuck in a perpetual twilight. You then proceeded to face off against Scathach-Skado and cut down the Fantasy Tree of Emptiness Sombrero. Very well done pruning two Lostblets in a short amount of time.”

“After that, a battered and damaged Shadow Border finally arrived at the North Sea and made its way inside the Wandering Sea...which leads us to right now!”

Kirschtaria nodded in agreement. “Indeed, it is as you have summarized. We have been inside two of the Lostbelts by now. And as we all know, they are dead-end timelines pruned away by Gaia because they had no future mutable going forward.”

“It kinda sounds like the Time Variance Authority from Marvel comics,” Jingle Abel Meuniere said. “They pruned timelines that were deemed too dangerous to exist.”

“Aside from that, we know that the Russian Lostbelt diverged during 1570 A.D. when a meteor struck the Earth and caused a second Ice Age. And the Scandinavian Lostbelt diverged when Surtr overstepped his role in Ragnarok.”

“Speaking of which,” Sion said. “Let’s talk about how these Lostbelts differ from Proper Human History. The strength of a Lostbelt is dependent on how much it strays from the main trunk of the Tree of Time, I call this term Lostbelt Depth. I have assigned the Russian Lostbelt a “D” rank because aside from the freezing cold and humans becoming Yaga, it’s not that much different from how the humans of our timeline live. This is in contrast to the Norse Lostbelt where everyone was sacrificed at the age of 25 to feed the Giants and the population never went beyond 10,000. For this, I give the Norse Lostbelt a B+.”

“Uh, guys?”

Everyone turned to Akuta who for once was not reading something.

“You forgot to mention one other thing, namely the ones who are serving under the Alien God. And I’m not just referring to the servant Apostoles.”

Sion facepalmed.

“Drat, I almost forgot that part.”

“Indeed,” Kirschtaria said. “There is also the matter of the group who refer to themselves as the seven Crypters, the ones who manage the Lostbelt trees.”

Da Vinci spoke up. “Two of them are former members of Team A, namely Daybit Sem Void and Beryl Gut.”

“The other 5 are mages who I once knew in my days at the Clock Tower, or were at least known by the Clock tower. We have already met Caules Forvedge who was the Crypter of the Russian Lostbelt, and then there was Atrum Galliasta who was the Crypter of the Norse Lostbelt. And while the names of the other two evade us, we do know the name of the lead Crypter who ordered the attack on Chaldea.”

Sion nodded. “I am well aware, he is an infamous mage that has managed to stay alive for nearly 100 years. He was a participant in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War who was thought to have died in battle against Marisbury Animusphere. His name is Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, the head and last member of the fallen house of Yggdmillennia.

---

Olympus, Crypter meeting room.

Darnic sat in his chair with his cane in his lap. His messy hair and laid-back expression gave off the impression that he was someone who had nothing to worry about.

To his right was a holographic projection of his adoptive granddaughter Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia. To the left of him was her brother Clause Forvedge Yggdmillennia in the flesh. On the other side of the table were images of Daybit Sem Void and Beryl Gut, while the remaining chairs were empty for two different reasons.

Darnic’s opinions of his fellow Crypters varied. He felt immense pride for Fiore due to her magical potential, as we as the fact that she was very loyal to him. Her brother on the other hand was for the most part beneath his notice, especially since his failure at the Russian Lostbelt.

Beryl Gut was someone he felt to keep an eye on, if only because he had heard of his reputation at the Clock Tower and the fact he made no secret about his casual murdering of the people in his Lostbelt. If anything he kept him around because his skills made him useful.

Although not as useful as his friend over there, isn’t that right Daybit?

Darnic could not read that man for the life of him, while he could not deny his genius, his nature and personality made him blink a few times whenever he stared at him.

Both Daybit and Beryl were former members of Chaldea’s Team A who defected and were now managing two of the worst Lostbelts suited for replacing Proper Human History. But given the rate of decline in each Lostblet’s human population, he figured he would not have to worry about them for long.

However, the surprisingly old magus was pulled out of his thoughts when Koyansaka gave him her report.

“Things in the Equss Lostbelt are going quite smoothly if I do say so myself. Thanks to the work of Beryl and his associates, the native population has gotten all riled up and will be sure to attack or report and humans or servants on sight. If Chaldea were to ever crossover into that place, they will have their work cut out for them!”

Beryl laughed.

“Ha! Who knew such a Lostbelt could exist on this planet, or that it was a possibility that was ultimately pruned away. I never thought that a world could exist where everyone is either a talking multicolored pony or a phantasmal species that developed a human-like society. And the kingdom of Equestria, let me tell ya, all that talk about the Magic of Friendship made me wanna barf. You wouldn’t believe how good it felt to have Mephistopheles bomb all those cities, their screams were music to my ears!”

Fiore recoiled back in her seat as Beryl described in detail about how much he enjoyed murdering all the innocent ponies. But she decided not to speak up until her grandfather gave her permission to do so. Which is why Daybit ended up talking instead.

“You must remember Beryl. Just like your Lostbelt, this one is an exception among exceptions in terms of how it manifested. For human history to diverge to the point where humanity was replaced by sentient phantasmal species, such a thing could not have been achieved without some kind of intervention.”

“Oh?” Darnic said. “What are you implying Daybit, is there more to this strange Lostbelt than meets the ey?”

“... I only have a theory, for now, or at least the beginnings of one.”

Finally, Caules, who had been silent the whole time, spoke up.

“What about Chaldea, what is going on with them? Where are they now?”

Koyansaka resumed speaking. “Well, we can infer now that they must have made it to the Wandering Sea. Where even the Alien God cannot reach.”

Darnic put his hands together and leaned on the table. “I see. While Chaldea has indeed proven to be a problem with them cutting down two trees so far. I believe the problem will resolve itself within time.”

“How so Darnic?”

“Well answer me this, what in Chaldea’s mind is the most pressing issue right now?”

Fiore thought for a moment before answering.

“Resorting Proper Human History.”

“Indeed Fiore. And what pray tell is the biggest obstacle to that goal?”

“Destroying the Lostbelt that is the biggest threat. Your Lostbelt grandfather.”

“Yes, this Lostbelt is indeed that actual biggest threat. But I’m willing to bet that Chaldea doesn’t yet realize that. I believe that they will focus their attention on what they believe is the Lostbelt that presents the most danger to the Earth.”

“...You mean the Equss Lostbelt?”

“Very good my dear! Chaldea may think that the Equss Lostbelt is the biggest threat when in reality, its King has stopped growing its tree and has no intention of letting its roots spread anymore. For that, she has made herself an enemy of the Alien God, and her people will suffer for her actions. I predict that Chaldea will make their way to that Lostbelt next in order to get a sense of it. However, thanks to the work of Beryl and his contacts in the Equss Lostbelt, he has made so that the entire population will be against Chaldea more than ever, they will have no allies in that world.”

Koyansaka smiled. “It is a sound plan Darnic, and considering that the only other god in that Lostbelt is a staunch misanthropic, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up willing Chaldea out of existence and save us all the trouble. I may even sit back and watch the show with some dango.”

“Then is there nothing left to discuss? Very well consider this meeting adjourned.”

The holograms of the other Crypter disappeared while Caules went off to his room. Leaving Darnic alone with his thoughts.

“Everything is going according to plan. Once my designs reach fruition I shall finally achieve the longstanding dream of we Yggdmillennia.”

---

The Wandering Sea Novurm Chaldea.

Everyone in the room was dumbfounded at what they were staring at.

“Ok,” Da Vinci said. “Just what are we looking at here?”

Sion had pulled up a 2D display of the current state of the world as well as the locations of the remaining 6 Lostbelts. But what shocked everyone was the size and nature of one in particular.

“To put it simply, the world is a blank slate that is occupied by the 6 Lostbelts. Which is what it should be like. However what you are currently seeing is the one big Lostbelt basically covering the entire world, or rather 97% of it, and the other 5 growing on top of said Lostbelt like an infection.”

“But this doesn’t make any sense!” Goredolf exclaimed. “Even if this is the biggest Lostbelt, how can 5 others be growing in the same space!? I thought that they would just grow and expand in separate areas until the bigger Lostbelt consumes the weaker one.”

“Normally you would be right, that’s just another odd thing about this Lostblet. For example, this thing has had nearly a year to grow and was well on its way to fully consuming the Earth and replacing Proper human History. However, about a month ago, it stopped expanding. Along with that, I can’t find any sign of its Tree of Emptiness, nor does it appear to have any storm walls. In short, this thing was about to win the big race and it just stopped a few inches before the finish line.”

This time Mash spoke up.

“But why? Why would it stop when it’s so close?”

“That’s the 100 million QP question. Aside from that, this Lostbelt is not the only oddity. The one located where the British Isles used to be is surrounded by a wall of light rather than a storm wall. And then there is the one located in South America, whose tree of Emptiness is undetectable. Coincidentally, both of these Lostbelts have a high Lostbelt Depth and are on the verge of collapse, I expect them to last no longer than a few months. Aside from that, the only one that appears to be really growing is the second-largest Lostbelt located where the Atlantic Ocean is supposed to be.”

“Wait, did you say the Atlantic? But that can’t be! There has never been a civilization in the middle of the ocean in all of recorded history! It would have to be older than anything else in the world.”

“I concur with Director Goredolf,” said Sherlock Holmes. “If it is anything older than 12,000 years, then it surpasses the four great civilizations and is older than Ancient Mesopotamia. Aside from that, the fact that it is in the middle of the ocean presents another challenge. The Shadow Border is incapable of crossing large bodies of water, which is a real problem if we intend to go there.”

“We’re gonna have to, since that Lostbelt is the only one growing properly, I can imagine it is where we will find the base of Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia. The Chinese and Indian Lostbelts can wait, while the British and South America Lostbelts will just die out eventually. But before we can make a move on the Atlantic Lostbelt, I think we should at least address the elephant in the room, and by that I mean the Lostbelt that is covering the whole world.”

“Why do you think that?” Ritsuka said.

“I don’t like the idea of just leaving that big Lostbelt on its own. It may not be growing right now, but who knows if it will start up sometime later, and when that happens, bye-bye Earth.”

“I see,” Kirschtaria said. “So you wish to put it down while it’s still vulnerable so to speak?”

“I agree with Sion,” Sherlock added. “That Lostbelt is too much of an enigma to just leave around, if nothing else we should cut down its tree while it’s still not expanding. Or at the very least ascertain the situation there and find out why this Lostbelt is not growing.”

“Then it’s settled, our next destination is the first Lostbelt that covered the Earth Lostbelt Zero!”

“Lostbelt Zero?” Kadoc said.

“I’m calling it ‘The Lostbelt Zero’ since it was the first Lostbelt to manifest and covers nearly the whole planet and not a specific region or country.”

Goredolf clapped his hands together. “Alright then, I think that’s all there was to discuss at this meeting or am I wrong? If anyone has anything to add or say please make your case now.”

Kadoc raised his hand. “Can we start resummoning our servants now?”

“That comes later, I think it would be best to resummon servants once you arrive at the Lostbelt. That way the Counter Force will have a say in what servants it deems appropriate for dealing with the Lostbelt.”

Kadoc humphed and sulked back into the corner.

“Anything else? No? Then the meeting is adjourned, I recommend everyone go and make preparations before we make our way to the next Lostbelt, pack only what you need.”

Everyone besides Da Vinci, Holmes, and Sion departed the command room. Leaving the trio to discuss another matter.

“So what are we doing Sion?” Da Vinci asked. “If we’re going to modify the Border, that might be a challenge for you.”

“True, your design philosophies and mine might end up being incompatible since I am used to cutting-edge alchemy and your magecraft is based off of the Middle Ages. But let’s forget about that for a moment. I’m actually much more interested in that exoskeleton for Mash, you called it Ortinax if I recall correctly? While Mash’s Spirit Origin is fine, the suit itself is not exactly optimized or built well. I can only imagine that she has to struggle while using it.”

“Well, yeah. I basically used spare parts leftover when I finished building the Shadow Border, so of course, it wouldn’t be perfect. So what do you want to fix or add? You know theirs no way to restore Lord Camelot to what it was once before.”

“I know, I don’t know what Galahad is not helping us now, so much for the ‘Perfect Knight’. So while we can’t bring out his power with how the Earth is now, I was thinking of tinkering with the bunker bolt mechanism. While not a priority right now, I do what to get this installed before we make it to the Atlantic Lostbelt. Before I got pulled into Trismegistus’s development, I was working on a Conceptual Weapon related to one’s mana density and near immortality.”

-

“Ophelia, what is your personal take on this Lostbelt that we’re about to head into?” Kirschtaria said.

The female mage thought for a second before replying. “I don’t know Kirschtaria, it doesn’t make sense from what we know of the other Lostbelts so far. The fact that it covers the Earth but has yet to completely overtake it is a mystery. Not the mention that we know nothing about how it might or might not resemble Proper Human History.”

"Hmmm, now that you mention it, Sion never did state what its Lostbelt depth was. We should ask her before we depart.”

Ritsuka and Mash who had both finished prepping began walking down to the command while Mash asked a question of her own.

“Senpai, I can’t help but feel a little concerned.”

“How so Mash?”

“If this really is the biggest Lostbelt geographically, then it stands to reason that there are a lot of people living in it. Considering how it covers the whole Earth and all.”

“...Yeah that’s true.”

“Back in the Russian and Norse Lostbelts, we knew that the people who were living there were the only ones left in their world before it got pruned. Russia was the only country left after the new Ice Age started, and Skadi said that she could only maintain a population of 10,000. And while it doesn’t make me feel any better, at the very least we know that we only erased basically two small populations rather than an entire world’s worth of people.”

“I think I know where you’re going with this.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, depending on how many people live there. If this really is a timeline with an entire planet of people, if we really do end up cutting down that Lostbelt’s Tree of Emptiness, we will be killing millions if not billions of people….”

“....Yes, that’s very much a possibility.”

“......”

“..........”

“But let’s just wait until we see this world for ourselves. I want to know what kind of world we might-...no, that we will end up having to erase.”

“Right, Senpai.”

Both Senpai and Kouhai continued walking, neither realizing how close their hands were getting.

-

Once everyone arrived at the command room, Sion made one last speech before the big send-off.

“Alright, Team A members Kirschtaria Wodime, Ritsuka Fujimura, Mash Kyrielight, Ophelia Phamrsolone, Kadoc Zemlupus, and Akuta Hinako are all present and accounted for. I can also see that Director Goredolf is here as well as Sherlock Holmes, technical advisor Da Vinci, staff members Jingle Abel Meuniere, Duston, Sylvia, etc... is that everyone? Alright, I hereby commence the departure from the Wandering Sea to the 1st Lostbelt. Since this covers the whole Earth and has no storm wall, you with instead emerge via Zero Sail right in the middle of the Lostbelt. I don’t believe you will need a conceptual anchor to reemerge for this one am I right Da Vinci?”

“That is correct, with the way the Lostbelt is structured, we only need to dive and emerge at a specific point rather than using a connection to anything there. Although just to be safe, we will be using anything that uses a human signature.”

“Alright, then any more questions? If not-”

“Actually I have one,” Kirschtaria said.

“Yes, Wodime?”

“What is the Lost depth of this Lostbelt? You never told us.”

Sion’s eyes widened as the thought dawned on her.

“Oh, that’s right I didn’t. Well actually I know what it is, but I wanted to save it for this moment actually.”

Sion adjusted her glasses as she began to look serious.

“So as you know I grade Lostbelt depths based on how much it resembles Proper Human History. ‘A++’ is the highest while ‘EX’ is an expectation. While lower grades like ‘D’ and ‘E’ mean it doesn’t really differ that much. As for the 1st Lostbelt, thanks to the data I gathered from Trismegistus, I was going to assign it a rank of ‘F-’ but I changed my mind and gave it an ‘EX’.”

Kirschtaria raised an eyebrow

“An ‘F-’ and then ‘EX’?” he said. “Why were you talking about?”

“Well, simply put in terms of how this Lostbelt differs from our timeline, there really is no difference if we’re being honest.”

“What!?” Goredolf exclaimed. “If that’s the case then this Lostbelt shouldn’t be a Lostbelt at all! If it really does resemble our timeline, then it shouldn’t be a stable world with a mutable future”

“That is correct Goredolf. Timelines are pruned when human civilization in that world is stuck with nowhere left to go or progress. But for some reason, this Lostbelt both genuinely resembles Proper Human History, and at the same time it doesn’t”

“Huh?”

“Put it like this. From a certain perspective, this Lostbelt is very similar to our world that we know, but at the same time from a different point of view, it's completely different. This is why the Trismegistus was basically fluctuating between an ‘F-’ and an ‘EX’. I can't really give you any more one that.”

Sherlock Holmes scratched his chin. “Then if the issue isn’t with progression, then the problem must lie with the humanity in that Lostbelt.”

“That must be the reason, or it could be something else. Because even if the Trismegistus itself had a hard time determining what was going on there, then this world truly must be an exception among exceptions. That aside, the only way of ever finding out what’s up with this Lostbelt, is to go there and see for ourselves. Team Chaldea, roll out!”

-

“Lostbelt Zero”

Initiating high speed calculations. Paper Moon activated.

Initiating planet navigational chart plus/minus convergence. Commencing Shadow Border’s docking sequence into reality boundary.

Disengaging mirror world plane voyage. Though the stratum may dissolve, I continue to exist. Reapplying timeflow attraction from Reality Space.

0.38-second difference between target coordinates and current recognition, confirmed! Tolerance levels are acceptable.

Emerging from Void Space. Thirty seconds until arrival at Reality Space.

29...

20...

10...

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

Zero Sail, complete. Emerging into Reality Space!

The Shadow Border emerged from Void Space and anchored itself to proper reality. The crew of the ship shook the weird feeling that happened every time they dived or came up.

Reality Space anchor attached. Reality verification complete

Lostbelt Depth: F-/EX?

Establishing Imaginary Numbers Submersible Shadow Border’s existence within Lostbelt. Zero Sail return successfully.

“Alright everyone, be sure to mind the gap when exiting the vehicle. When you go outside don’t touch or bring back anything unless it's a cute girl like me!”

As the Border established its camouflage systems, everyone unbuckled and began sorting themselves.

“I’m going to launch a few drones to scout the place. Meanwhile, we can use the cameras to check the surrounding area. Aaaand, so far so good. This Lostbelt so far looks like your stereotypical run-of-the-mill grassy plain with a forest nearby, in the distance, I can see a mountain in the distance and whoop-, what do we have here!”

“What is it?” Akuta asked.

“Well, come and see for yourselves.”

The members of Team A gathered around as Da Vinci put the image up on the screen. In the distance on the mountain was what looked to be a city carved into the mountainside.

“Is that a city? Looks like something out of Lord of the Rings if you ask me,” Meuniere stated.

“While it’s still a good bit away, from what I can make out of the architecture,” Kirschtaria said. “It looks 19 century, but with a bit more regal and ‘magical’ appearance.”

“It kinda reminds me of Camelot,” Mash said unironically.

“Why do you say that?” Ophelia asked.

“I don’t know, it’s just a gut feeling that I have.”

“Da Vinci, you think that might be the capital of this land? Actually, scratch that, where are even supposed to be?”

“That’s the thing actually, normally in Proper Human History, this place should have just been the body of water west of France and north of Spain. But thanks to Trismegistus, Sion was able to confirm that there was actually solid land here. This means that wherever we are is a place that was lost in Proper Human History, perhaps it sunk to the bottom of the sea or something. As for your first question, we can only guess, the drones have yet to go far enough to get a proper geographical layout of the land.”

“Hey Mash, why don’t we go outside and take a look around,” Ritsuka said.

“Okay Senpai, that's a good idea.”

“I’ll come with,” Akuta said.

The door opened and the three stepped outside and took their first steps into a new world.

“Well, the air and weather seem normal. Nothing out of the ordinary yet,” Mash said.

“What about the mana density?” Ritsuka asked.

“Hmm let’s see, according to the Ortranx scanners...oh. Wow, the density is almost comparable to the Age of Gods like in Mesopotamia.”

“That’s interesting,” Da Vinci said on the communicator. “It may be possible that this is a Lostbelt where the Age of Gods never ended. That or it’s a place where mystics are still widely practiced. Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if you run into a few phantasmal species while you’re out there.”

“I suggest we scout the forest,” Akuta said. “That is the best place to learn just what type of animals live in the Lostbelt.”

“Ok, but don’t go too far, I wanna get more readings before we spread out further.”

The trio acknowledged Da Vinci and set off in the direction of the woods.

“Alright, while those three are gone I think it’s time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for!”

Kadoc’s eyes widened as Da Vinci pulled out a particular suitcase that everyone was familiar with by now.

“Finally!..er...I mean, okay then.”

“Eehee, Alright then since he has waited long enough I think I’ll give the honor of summoning the first servant in this Lostbelt to Kadoc. Now then, which servant are you looking to bring back?”

Kadoc deadpanned at the little girl.

“Kidding, kidding! Let me just connect this thing to the local ley lines and allow it to sync with the Throne of Heroes.”

Meanwhile, Mash, Ritsuka, and Akuta had been walking through the forest for a while but had yet to come across anything other than familiar critters.

“Well, at least this Lostbelt has recognizable animals,” Mash said as she spotted a squirrel, mentally thinking back to the last two Lostbelts that were devoid of all normal fauna due to the perpetual winter.

“I do have to admit, it's nice to see all this nature and untainted environment after so long. Too often stuff like this gets destroyed because humans keep consuming the planet's resources.”

Silence.

“Uhh, forget what I said.”

“It’s fine, let's just go until oh!”

Mash stopped as a strange creature walked out in front of her.

Its size was somewhere between a large dog and a grown pony, but looked feline in appearance. Its coak was pure white sans the face and tail. However, the most striking feature was a scythe-like blade that was growing out of the side of its head like a horn.

“What. Is that thing?” Ritsuka speaking for everyone.

“Is that a cat or something, I can’t tell,” Akuta stated.

“Ab, Ab-sol?” The creature said.

“What did it say, Absol?”

“Absol, Absol?” the creature kept repeating the word.

“Is that all it can say?”

“No wait, the translator is picking up trances of a fluent language. But it can’t seem to decrypt what it’s saying.”

“You’re saying this thing is sentient?” Ritsuka said. “And that is speaking a language that the translator cannot decrypt?”

“Well Senpai, there is not much to go off of if it’s only saying one word. If that were not the case, then the translator would have been able to translate what Fou says if he was sentient.”

The white squirrel-like creature known as Cath Palug attempted to look very innocent even as the black and white creatures' speech started to sound more aggressive.

“Ab-sol! Absol!”

“Uh, guys I think this thing is hostile!” Akuta said.

“Absol!”

The strange creature's blade glowed. Then with a swift motion of its head, unleashed a white slash attack at the trio, which Mash had no trouble blocking with her shield.

“This creature has just turned hostile. Master, permission to engage!”

“Permission granted!”

“Understood! Commencing the first battle in the 1st Lostbelt!”

The creature lunged at them with claws that now seemed to glow white, Mash smacked it away with her shield and it smashed against a tree. Not done yet, the creature got up and began to build up energy in its mouth, it then fired a beam of concentrated energy that was once again blocked by Mash.

The creature’s horn once again tried attacking Mash with its glowing blade but to no avail. Mash’s defenses were just too strong. Finally, another smack sent it into another tree, this time dealing massive damage to it. The creature struggled to get up, eyeing the humans who had yet to break a sweat

“That thing looks weak, if it knows what’s good for itself, it will walk away now.”

But instead of doing what Akuta thought it would, the creature then took a deep breath, and let out an ear-piercing screech.

“What’s it doing?” Ritsuka shouted over the noise.

“It’s calling for backup!” Akuta said.

“Should we stay and fight Master?”

Ritsuka was unsure if it was wise to fall back for now or just wait and see what happens so that they could get a better understanding of this new Lostbelt. However, he quickly came to a decision when several more strange creatures started to come within view.

The animals or whatever they were, ranged from things resembling goats, deers, large insects, beavers, rodents and even walking plants. They all eyed the trio with aggression and anger. Just like the strange white cat creature before him, they all seemed to be only able to cry a single unique noise that resembled a made-up word or name as they grew closer.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here, now!”

No sooner than giving the order, the creatures started to attack them. Some groups began attacking them by firing off what looked like leaves from their appendages, it at first did not look threatening until a single sharp leaf flew past Mash’s head and embedded itself into a nearby tree.

“What are these things!?” Mash’s exclaimed.

“I’d rather not stay and find out!” Akuta said.

Then the communicator on Ritsuka’s arm lit up with Da Vinci talking from the other end.

“Guys, what’s going on? Are you alright?

“We’re being chased by a large group of unknown phantasmal creatures! Theirs too many for us to handle.”

“How many?”

“I counted like 50 back there!” Akuta said. “Some of them were small but they didn’t look like pushovers.”

“Okay well, you can’t bring them back to the Border or they might attack it and severely damage it. Try and lose them in the forest.”

“Ugh fine, But I’m sensing this place is filled with these creatures, hiding from them will be hard.”

“Can you find us a safe spot Akuta?” Mash said.

“I can try, but no promises.”

The trio continued running through the forest, trying to lose the pack of creatures that were following them. After several minutes, Akuta stopped in her tracks.

“What’s going on, why’d you stop?” Ritsuka asked.

“Because we’re surrounded.”

Before he could ask what she meant, Ristuka looked and saw as several large creatures stepped out from the shadows cast by the trees.

Two of them resembled bipedal bears that had a circle mark on their belly, another one was a walking blue alligator, then came out two were red monkey looking creatures, finally, a tall green reptilian looking creature with a blue belly stepped out in front of them.

“Tyrannnn,” the green creature growled.

The three Chaldeans all had their backs to each other as the creatures closed in.

“I got a bad feeling about this,” Ritsuka said.

“Akuta senpai, can you fight?” Mash asked.

The female master let out a frustrated sigh. “If I have to.”

Two eastern swords appeared in Hinako’s hands, meanwhile, Mash stood in front of Ritsuka while he prepared a gandr spell.

There was a tense moment as the creatures looked upon their prey ready to pounce.

Finally, the blue alligator creature jumped at the Chaldeans.

“You three, get down!”

There was a loud bang and the entire area became covered in smoke and light, the creatures growled and bellowed as they were blinded by someone.

“Come over here this way!”

“Who is saying that?”

“Master, I’m sensing the presence of another servant nearby!”

“Wait really, where?”

“This way follow me!”

Ritsuka and Akuta followed the demi servant out of the smoke as the creatures began firing off attacks that inevitably and accidentally began hitting each other, which of course caused all of them to start fighting each other in a blind scuffle.

The trio ran until the noise of the creatures could be heard no more. The Chaldeans took this time to take a breather.

“Okay those phantasmal species are unlike anything I have ever seen before in my long years,” Akuta said.

“Really? Do you think they might be descended or split off from some kind of from some other phantasmal beasts from Proper Human History?” Ritsuka asked.

“I don’t think so, the aura and mana those things were giving off were not familiar to me in any way. It’s like those things were a completely different type of animal when compared to a phantasmal.”

“I believe Akuta when she says this senpai. Whatever those things were, they were not members of any know phantasmal species.”

“Really, how can you tell?”

“The Ortranx system managed to scan several of those things and determined that while their biology is similar to animals, they somehow possess a great amount of wisdom and will that puts them on the level of sapience.”

“You mean, those things, back there were all sentient?”

“Yes. But if that’s true, then it also means those things did not attack us out of instinct or to defend themselves due to perceived invasion of territory.”

“Hmmm.”

“Akuta is something wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just a theory. But forget about that, where is that servant that called us?”

“Oh, I was beginning to think that you forgot about me.”

Ritsuka, Akuta, and Mash looked around for the voice until they saw a small figure step out from behind a tree.

“Oh! You’re-”

---

Kirschtaria and Ophelia walked across the field as they searched for signs of nearby civilization. As the city built into the mountain was too far away to walk, they had been allowed to hike to a nearby road that had been spotted on the drone camera.

“You think we might meet some travelers on this road Ophelia?”

“Who knows Kirschtaria, maybe we might. Then again, given that we need to know all we can about this Lostbelt, finding a native inhabitant that we can speak to would be very helpful,”

“Thankfully the Director gave us permission to go after I assured him that we could handle anything we come across ourselves,”

“No, he only let us go after we were provided with a servant. Isn’t that right Ortlinde?”

“Yes, master. I shall be your shield and spear whenever the need arises,” said Ortlinde. The Valkyrie servant was currently in spirit form in order to preserve energy.

“Well that being said, this place looks remarkably peaceful so far. I wonder what was the caveat that caused this timeline to be pruned away?”

“Well, from what we know about Lostbelts, the main reason is that the human civilization in this world must have stagnated in some way shape, or form. Either it advanced too quickly or got stuck with nowhere to go. This place may seem peaceful on the surface so far, but if there is anything that our experiences have taught us is that things don’t always appear as they should be.”

“Indeed Ophelia, and while I take no joy in sending these Lostbelts and its people back to the void, it is what we must do to save our Proper History.”

“Agreed Kirschtaria, your right,”

The couple continued walking, while Kirschtaria continued his own dialogue internally.

“After all, these people should not be here. From a certain point of view, they’re already dead.

Eventually, the two Masters and servant came upon the manmade dirt road that seemed to stretch from the east to west.

“See anyone with those eyes of yours Ophelia?”

“No, but let's try this. Ortlinde!”

The servant materialized into corporeal form. “You called for me master?”

“Fly up and see if you can spot anyone coming down this road in either direction!”

“As you wish, master!”

The youngest Valkyrie took off and flew up into the air until she could see for miles.

A few moments passed, until Ophelia got a mental message from her servant.

“There is a person down east being attacked by some manner of creature!”

Ophelia’s eyes widened. “Kirschtaria, this way hurry!”

The two masters ran down the road until they came across a broken wagon as well as several unnaturally large bees attacking said carriage. And the person trying to swat away the giant insects was…

“Is that...a unicorn?”

Indeed, Kirschtaria’s eyes did not deceive him, nor was Ophelia’s mystic eye malfunctioning. Standing near the downed carriage was a yellow-coated unicorn with a blue mane. The equine itself was smaller than what a full-grown horse would look like, so the two masters could only assume it was a younger member of its species.

“Get back you mean Pokemon, you ain’t getting even one lick of my goods!”

If the talking unicorn wasn’t surprising enough, the fact that they could understand it was even weirder. Eventually though, Ophelia stopped staring and decided to do something.

“Ortlinde, help that unicorn drive off those giant bees.”

“As you wish, master.”

Diving in on her golden wings, Ortlinde quickly made short work of the bees with her spear and shield. The bees tried to sting her, but the Valkyrie was swift and more experienced. As the insects flew away, Kirschtaria noticed that the large bees kept repeating a word over and over again.

“Beedrill, Beedrill.”

Beedrill. Hmmm is that what those things were? I would assume so given that they had lance-like appendages for arms.

As Kirschtaria was lost in thought, Ophelia walked up to the unicorn that was looking at her and her servant in confusion.

“Hello, are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah thanks, who are you?”

“My name is Ophelia Phamrsolone and this is Ortlinde,” She gestured to her who took a quick bow.

“I’m Sunny Gaze, thank you for saving me and my wagon. Where are you from?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Well, I can tell that you’re not from around here given that I've never seen your kind before, plus Ophelia Phamrsolone is not a name you will find here in Equestria.”

“Equestria, is that what this place is?” Kirschtaria asked as he caught up with Ophelia.

“Uh, yeah, Equestria is this whole kingdom. Wait, you're here in Equestria and you don’t even know the name of the place you are in?”

Both masters looked at each other before looking back at the pony.

“Well it’s as you guessed, we’re not from around here. And to put it simply our arrival here was...unconventional.”

“I see. Well as I said, this is the kingdom of Equestria. Land of the ponies and most recently Pokemon.”

“Pokemon?” Kirschtaria said. “I heard you call those giant bees with lances for hands Pokemon.”

“Indeed, those bugs were just one species of Pokemon, apparently these guys come in all shapes and sizes. They can resemble things such as sheep, Bees, trees, rocks, birds, bats and even dragons! They may have only been here for nine months but they keep finding new ways to surprise me….wait a minute why am I telling you this you should know this already.”

“Pardon me?”

“Well unless you guys are aliens or have been living under a rock for the past year, you should already know about Pokemon. Actually, where did you say you were from again?”

Kirschtaria looked at Ophelia who nodded.

“Well I had assumed that our species existed here but it’s clear you have never seen a member of our kind before. To put it simply, me and Ophelia are members of the human race, and we are from a place called Chaldea.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the color on Sunny Gaze’s face seemed to drain(which was weird considering his face was yellow). He looked as if Kirschtaria and Ophelia had just threatened him.

“D-did you say Chaldea? Humans?”

Now it was the Chaldeans turn to look surprised

“Uh, yeah. Why, have you heard it before?”

“Oh no...Oh, dear sweet Celestia! They told us you would come!”

“Wait, sir. What do you mean?”

“You’re here to wipe us out, right!? To kill us all! Something about Lostbelts and humans coming back and I don’t know, but you’re here to kill us is that right!?”

“Wait, how do you know about the Lostbelts? Who told you about Chaldea?” Ophelia asked.

“So it is true. You are from Chaldea! Please don’t hurt me!”

Sunny Gaze immediately sprinted away down the road, leaving behind his broken wagon and two worried-looking masters plus Ortlinde standing there.

“Kirschtaria, he knows about Chaldea and the Lostbelts.”

“Yes. And if he was a common pony, then the odds are that everyone in this kingdom knows who we are.”

“What should we do?”

Kirschtaria thought for a moment. The situation was not good. Never before in the previous two Lostbelts that they visited had the average citizen known who Chaldea was before arriving here and that it was their goal to destroy the Lostbelt they called home. The only person who might know who they were was the designated Crypter assigned to this Lostbelt, as well as the Lostbelt King who they reported to. So it was Kirschtaria’s assumption that the King of this Lostblet may have informed his entire nation of the danger that Chaldea was to them and their world.

“For now, let's get back to the Border, we need to tell everyone about this so that they can avoid any cities and settlements that they come across-”

“Kirschtaria are you there?”

The head of the Wodime family looked at his communicator to see Sherlock Holmes.

“I’m here Holmes, what's wrong?”

“You need to come back here. We have learned some things about this Lostbelt that we all need to discuss.”

“Agreed, we have also just learned some things as well.”

“What things?”

“Well, to put it simply, our job just got a whole lot harder.”

---

Kirschtaria and Ophelia arrived back at the Shadow Border and walked inside. The hatch closed behind them as Da Vinci activated the visual and conceptual camouflage around the tank. The two masters then came into the main cockpit as they found the rest of the team, including the recently returned Ritsuka, Mash, Akuta and the recently resummoned Anastasia.

“Alright, who wants to go first?” Kadoc said.

“I will.”

“Alright Mr. Wodime. Tell us what you have learned,” Sherlock said.

“Okay I’ll just start by saying this, it seems the people of this Lostbelt have been informed of who we are and why we are here. Me and Ophelia just came across a native who recognized the name Chaldea and the fact that we are here to destroy this Lostbelt.”

There was a tense moment of silence before Sherlock Holmes spoke.

“I see, I had a feeling that we might one day run into this problem when dealing with the Lostbelts.”

“And that's not all, apparently, the inhabitants of this Lostbelt are not humans, but rather talking unicorns. As well as some strange creatures called Pokemon.”

Sherlock’s eyes widened before coming back down to a normal expression.

“I see, the guest that Ritsuka, Mash, and Akuta brought back stated as much.”

“Guest?”

Mash then spoke up. “Oh yes, while we were out in the forest, we came across a number of creatures that were apparently Pokemon. And just as we were corned by them we were saved by a stray servant that was summoned here by the Counter Force.”

“Oh really? Where are they?”

“He went into the back to find-, oh there he is.”

The door to the cockpit opened up and in stepped a servant in blue clothing who looked like a child but had the air and maturity of an adult.

“Seriously, you guys don't have alcohol on this metal contraption? Oh well, it can’t be helped.”

Kirschtaria immediately recognized the servant’s voice even before he saw him.

“Hans Christian Anderson. I didn’t expect the Counter Force to summon you to this place.”

“Yes yes I am well aware of my own lack of combat power and how little I might contribute to this group of misfits. But that's just how life goes, you work with what you got right.”

“Anyway, Anderson was summoned to this Lostbelt some time ago. He says that he spent most of that time learning what he could about this world.”

“Since I had nothing better to do, I just traveled in spirit form and broke into libraries after closing to learn all that I could about this world. Some of what I read was cliche and sugar-coated, but I did manage to learn a few things.”

“Like what?” Akuta said.

“Well first of all, this land is not home to just Unicorn, but Pegasi and small horses as well. Collectively they refer to their species as ponies. For the last millennia, this land has been ruled by someone named Princess Celestia.”

“Princess Celestia. Hmmm, that name definitely doesn’t ring a bell in proper human history, so whoever she is, she must be someone who can only exist in this Lostbelt,” Mash stated.

“Another thing is that Celestia is apparently not the only Princess ruling this country. There is also someone named Princess Luna who is her sister, then there's some Princess named Cadence who rules some territory up north named the Crystal Empire, finally, there is the newest Princess named Twilight Sparkle who lives in a place called Ponyville.”

“Ponyville?” Kadoc said. “What kind of a name is Ponyville? That's like if someone back in Proper Human History founded a town and called it Humansville.”

“Trust me the names get worse, this place is like a children's fantasy book or TV show come to life. Apparently, there are other cities and places here with such colorful names such as ‘Manehatten’, ‘Fillydelphia’, ‘Las Pegasus’, ‘Baltimare’, Mount Everhoof’ and ‘Vanhoover’.”

“.....Ok did someone just take a bunch of American cities and just slapped a pony themed pun onto it!?”

“As much as I agree with Mister Kadoc that the coincidental naming does raise a few eyebrows,” Sherlock said. “What else can you tell us about this place?”

“Well, for one thing Equestria is not the only nation in this Lostbelt. Several others exist all over the world with their own unique species. Apparently some phantasmal were able to evolve and build their own cultures. Some of these races include Minotaurs, Griffins, Hippocampi, Zebras, Deer, and even dragons. Although the last one is less of a society and more of a group of ruffians who tend to stay away from other societies.”

“Wow,” Da Vinci said. “To think that phantasmals could have the potential to advance to the point where they make their own societies and cultures, it sounds almost unbelievable if you ask me. Although one part I don’t get is the Minotaurs. Asterios who is the Minotaur of Greek myth was the only one of his kind in existence and his birth was only possible due to godly machinations, how an entire race sprung up from that is a mystery.”

“A question for another time,” Wodime said. “I want to talk about these ‘Pokemon’, apparently from what that unicorn told me, these creatures have not been here for long. They were said to only appear on this planet less than a year ago. Hans, during your search, did you find anything about what brought the Pokemon here?”

“Well, they didn’t exactly have the reason written down in a book since they’re so recent. And it's not like I could walk up to someone and ask them. But from what little I could learn, a being called Arceus brought them here. And if the implications are true, this Arceus may be a god or divine spirit of some type.”

“A god? You mean like Scáthach-Skadi or Tiamat?” Ophelia asked.

“Hmmm, this is troubling news,” Da Vinci said.

“Yes, we do not know of what manner of transportation this Arceus brought these Pokemon here if he really did. If it is true, did he bring them here from another planet or another universe? Did the act of bringing them here use the majority of his divine energy, or does he still have enough power to do it again?” Sherlock questioned.

“The only other person we encountered who would be capable of pulling that kind of stunt off is Tiamat. So we must assume this Arceus is a divinity of some exceptional power at least.,” Wodime said. “Hans what else can you tell us?”

“Sorry, that's all I could find before I ran into those three in the forest.”

“Well, this simply won’t do!” Goredolf said. “While we did learn some crucial things, we still have too many questions about the Lostbelt and what we should expect from it. Not to mention that its tree of Emptiness is nowhere in sight. And finally, what happened to the humans of this Lostbelt?”

“Perhaps they mutated into another species like the Yaga?” Ophelia said. “But what happened to them can wait. The bigger concern is that if we go out there as humans, we will automatically be singled out for being members of Chaldea since it seems we’re the only humans in the Lostbelt.”

“I have to agree with the director,” Meuniere said. “I think it's still too risky to go looking for the tree until we get a full scope of this Lostbelts situation. Especially since there is a god running around in this place.”

“So we’re gonna go out and do more reconnaissance? Ok, I’m fine with that! Wouldn’t hurt to see more of this peaceful world.” Pepe stated cheerfully.

“The best way to learn more about this world is to ask its inhabitants, but that's gonna be a problem if this place is on high alert for any sightings of humans. To put it simply, we can’t just go walking into a town and start asking questions. Even if we had disguises, asking obvious things that one would expect any inhabitant of this world to know already would raise suspicion,” Ophelia pointed out.

“While there's nothing we can do about obvious questions, the real problem is being able to talk to these people as humans,” Sherlock said.

“I think I can help with that problem, wait here I’ll be right back,” Da Vinci went into her room, fished through some things, and came back out with two necklaces.

“These are mystic codes made by the Queen of Sheba, they allow the wearer to disguise themselves as anything within their size and realistic imagination. As some of you may recall, she made one of these for Mata Hari during the Salem Singularity.”

“That's great Da Vinci!” Mash said. “How many did she make for us?”

“Unfortunately she could only make 2 for now. (actually, it was more like I could only afford 2 for now, money grubbing queen) So only one pair will be able to go out for now, who wants to volunteer?”

Mash and Ritsuka were about to raise their hands when someone else beat them to it.

“I’ll go.”

“Kadoc, are you sure?”

“It's about time I did something useful. And besides, if something goes wrong, Anastasia's magic can allow for a clean getaway.”

“Well, I guess her ice magic would create a good blanket of cover. Alright, you two can go.”

“Thank you.”

“Meuniere, where is the nearest settlement?”

“According to the mapping drones, the nearest city is a few minutes away from here by driving. And its still connected to the forest so I suggest we park near there and have Kadoc and Ana walk to rest of the way.”

“Ok then, you guys fine with this?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Good, Goredolf would you like to drive?”

Indeed, the destination was not that far away. It was not the largest city when compared to the one on the mountain, but it was still big. After parking the border once again, Da Vinci gave Kadoc and Anastasia the mystic codes.

“Alright, based on the verbal description from Kirschtaria and Ophelia, I've preprogrammed the appearances you guys will take once you put these on.”

Kadoc and Anastasia held the necklaces in their hands before the master asked another question.

“Do I have to walk on all fours to make this convincing?”

“No, the illusion will take care of that for you. As for other instructions, these things will drop the disguises once you grab the gemstone and think about it. Other than that, these things have a four hour battery life so don’t dilly dally.”

“In and out got it,”

“My my this should be fun master,” Anastasia said.

“No pranks Ana, this is serious recon.”

“I know I was just messing with you.”

“Well, here it goes.”

Everyone stood back as both master and servant put on the necklaces and their bodies began to shimmer. Then in a moment, their forms changed from bipedal to quadruple.

Kadoc looked like a gray unicorn with a white mane, young but still with somewhat dull eyes. Anastasia meanwhile also had white hair but her coat was blue rather than grey.

“Huh, not bad.”

“It is serviceable, I kind of think it's neat.”

“Wait, why are Kadocs command spells on his butt?” Akuta said. Everyone looked at his flank and sure enough, his distinct signature command spells were right there.``

“Why are my command spells on my butt of all places?”

“Well from the description that Kirschtaria gave me. The unicorn they met also had some kind of mark on their flank. It also seems Anastasia has one as well.”

Kadoc looked and sure enough Anastasia had a mark on her flank as well, but instead of command spells, it was stylized black and blue snowflake.

“What would a pony have a tattoo on their butt?” Mash asked.

“Maybe it’s something ponies have to distinguish themselves,” Pepe said as he poked Kadoc’s “flank”. Upon doing so however the image fizzled for a little bit before coming back into focus.

“Oh probably shouldn’t have done that.”

“Oh yeah forgot to mention, try not to touch or bump into anyone. Cause that might mess with the illusion. Alright, you two, good luck and stay safe!”

After checking that the coast was clear, Kadoc and Anastasia exited the border and started to make their way through the forest on their GPS.

“We should arrive there before lunchtime Anastasia.”

“Very well master.”

The two walked for a while before Anastasia noticed the awkward silence between them.

“Master, is something wrong?”

“No, why would you say that?”

“You’re sticking by me closer than normal, yet you haven't said anything.”

It was at this point Kadoc noticed that he was centimeters away from holding Anastasia’s hand, before putting his own back in his pockets.

“It's nothing, don’t worry about it.”

There were a few more awkward silent moments.

“Is this about what happened in Russia?”

That was enough to make Kadoc stop in his tracks. Bad memories flashed through his mind. Gunfire. Blinding snow. A towering Mammoth. Yaga. A dying Anastasia in his arms, her face already half gone.

“So you do remember that.”

“My spirit origin was not too damaged when I returned to the Throne. So yes, I still have my recollections about what happened there.”

“....Anastasia, I never want you to do something like that ever again.”

“Master…”

“I mean it. Your spirit origin may have retained your memories, but what if something happens the next time and the next you that I summon has no memories of me?”

“Kadoc, even if that happens, I will still be the same Anastasia you have always known.”

“That's not enough for me. Those memories, our time together, you’re everything I have.

“Kadoc, you shouldn’t think like that.”

“Why not!?”

“You shouldn’t get attached to the ghost of the past. Heroic Spirits are meant to safeguard the future, but at the end of the day we are temporary existences. Fated to one day disappear and return to the throne.”

“But-”

“No buts. I care about you master, remember that it will not be the last time you will have to say goodbye to me.”

Kadoc held his head down. But then felt Anastasia hug him from behind.

“And for the record, you’re all I have too.”

For a moment, a smile crept on the face of a young master.

---

Kadoc and Anastasia were a little overwhelmed when they came upon the settlement on the map. The city itself was mostly filled with ponies of all shapes and sizes, and aside from them, strange-looking creatures that resembled other animals and at times things indescribable passed them.

“Those things must be the Pokemon Kirschtaria and Ristuka were talking about,” Kadoc said.

“What odd-looking creatures. Are we sure these things are all members of the same race?”

“That's what Anderson said at least, but let's ask someone to see if we can confirm.”

The two wandered around the city, asking simple questions that one would expect travelers from another land to ask such as “What is the name of this city?”, “Where is city hall?”, “Where is a library?”.

Unfortunately, their questions bore little fruit, as everyone seemed to be busy or not having enough time to answer all their questions.

“We need to find someplace that has people with the time to talk to us,” Kadoc stated. “And it has to be quiet as well as unsuspicious.”

“Hmmm I have an idea.” Anastasia walked up to a pony that was trimming a bush and tapped him on the shoulder.”

“Excuse me, sir?”

The older stallion turned around and greeted her with a smile.

“Hello little lady, what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering what is the best place to find some lunch here?”

“Well for a pretty mare like you, the best place that's open right now is the ‘All-the-more Diner’. Best diner in town that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner all day long! It's right down the street to your left, you can’t miss it.”

“Oh thank you, I think we'll go there right now. Come on Kody.”

“Have a good day ma’am!”

Anastasia walked off while Kadoc gave the stallion a stare when he turned his back. Catching up to his servant, he mentally communicated with her.

Kody, really?

Well we can’t exactly use our real names now can we?

Well I would prefer to pick my false name next time instead of Kody

Eventually, they found the restaurant and went inside. Being almost lunchtime, the place was nearly full.

“There are some seats right over there.”

Kadoc looked and saw a table with two seats next to a young mare and what appeared to be a unicorn colt.

Taking their seats, it wasn’t long before a waitress came over.

“What's your pleasure?”

“Excuses me?”

“What are you going to order?”

It then dawned on them that they had just entered a restaurant without any money. And even if they did, Kadoc remembered that ponies were herbivores. Looking at the menu his suspicions were confirmed when he read the description for such colorful dishes such as “Grass Soup'', “ Daffodil sandwiches'', and “Hay Fries''. Kadoc was stunned for a bit, but thankfully Anastasia came up with an answer.

“We’ll just have water for now please.”

“Just water?”

“Yes please.”

“Alright, two glasses of water coming right up.”

The waitress went away and Kadoc breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thanks I’m not sure what I was gonna do at that moment.”

“It's fine, now, who should we ask around here for answers.”

“Maybe we can ask the waitress when she comes back.”

“No, we can’t take up her time while she's on the clock.” Anastastia looked over to the nearby mare and colt who seemed to be minding their own business. “How about them.” Anastasia then got up and walked over to their table.

“Ana, hold on!”

“Um, excuse me, I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Anastasia said.

The mare looked at Anastasia, giving her a warm smile. “Oh not at all, is there something you need?”

“Yes, do you live here in this city by any chance?”

“Yes, my name is Alice Maxillilion, this is my friend Toichi.”

“Hi,” the little colt said.

“Hello Alice, my name is Ana, and this is my boy...er..coltfriend Kody. We are out of town and are wondering if you could answer some questions about this place. Isn't that right Kody?”

Anatsatia gestured for Kadoc who was still sitting at the other table, he let out a sigh before coming over.

“I apologize for Ana, she can be..quite upfront.”

“It’s no trouble at all, so what questions do you guys have?"

The couple grabbed their table and connected it to the one with Alice and Toichi.

“Well, to put it simply, me and Kody are not from...around here, so we would like to ask you about some things.”

“Such as?”

“Who is the ruler of this land?”

Both Alice and Toichi blinked at the strange question.

Why are you asking that? We know who the rulers of this land are.

I just want to be clear on the royal hierarchy, as in who stands where in terms of sovereign authority.

“Wait, are you guys serious?” Toichi asked.

“Yes, like I said we’re not from around here.”

Alice raised an eyebrow but answered their question nonetheless.

“Well, depending on how you look at it, this Kingdom is ruled by the four Alicorn Princesses. But only the 2 royal sisters are considered the overall rulers of the country. That would be Celestia and Luna, the other two are Princess Cadence who rules the Equestrian territory of the Crystal Empire up north, and Princess Twilight Sparkle who resides in Ponyville a little down south.”

Anastasia blinked for a second before she smiled.

“Ah, thanks for clearing that up. We had heard that there were four Princesses but didn’t know their overall standing.”

Alice nearly tilted her head, before saying, “I see, anything else?”

“Well, we also wanted to know what are these creatures that seem to be everywhere? We know they’re not ponies, but we can also tell that they’re not all individual species. What are they?”

Before Alice could speak, the colt spoke up.

“You mean you don’t know what the Pokemon are? Have you guys been living under a rock for the past 9 months?”

Knew this was going to be an obvious question, even the kid is getting suspect

Just keep calm for now master.

“Now now Toichi, where these people have been is none of our business. That being said I do have to wonder, the Pokemon have been here for almost a year and you don’t know what they are? Surely who must have heard Arceus’s broadcast by now, as well as the most recent one.”

Kadoc began to get nervous, but Anastasia kept her poker face.

“As I said, we are not...from around here.”

“...Well to answer your question, those creatures you see are called Pokemon. They are a race of aliens from a planet in another dimension Earth, they were brought here by a god called Arceus.”

The words “Earth” and “god” made Kadoc’s eyes widen, but he quickly tried to hide his reaction.

Earth? Does that mean these things are from a parallel world or something?

“Wow, that’s interesting, why did this Arceus bring them here?”

“Apparently from what I know, the planet they were from was not treating them well. The other race that lived there, called humans, basically treated them as second-class citizens. They didn’t even acknowledge their sapience at times. So when their god Arceus broke free of his prison he took them all to our little planet of Equus here.”

Ana hummed in curiosity. Master, I must confess that even among the parallel world theory, the Throne of heroes has never observed a world that contained a race of creatures called Pokemon, nor a god called Arceus. Such knowledge would have been preserved and imparted onto us in the Throne.

I see, what could that mean? Let me talk to them.

“So, what happened to the humanity of that Earth? Are they ok?”

“Well to put it simply, the bad humans were left there to die. And by that, I mean that due to the lack of Pokemon as well as legendary Pokemon, their home planet will spiral out of control without the Pokemon to maintain the balance of nature. So it would be a matter of time before Earth is a dead world, if not already. As for the good humans, Arceus brought them here to Equus and turned them into Pokemon.”

Hmmm it's not so hard to believe that if a god died during the Age of Gods, the boundary of which they presided over would fall apart due to their authority being left vacant. But that being said

“...I see. Do you know why?”

“Why what?”

“Why did he turn them into Pokemon?”

“Well, I'm not 100% sure. But I do have a theory that's backed up by some rumors.”

“Which is?”

“Arceus might have thought that humans would continue treating Pokemon as lesser beings, so he made them Pokemon so that they would never see them as anything but equals. I heard that at the World Summit meeting that Arceus said he wanted to preserve that which was good about humanity while cutting off what made them evil.”

Kadoc raised an eyebrow.

“But wait, there is a flaw in that logic. If this Arceus only brought the good ones with him, why did he make them Pokemon if he thought they were going to do bad things such as treating them as lesser beings?”

“That's true,” Anastasia added. “Not to mention that separating the good members of humanity from the evil ones won’t eliminate the “evil” in humanity. Although now that I say that, I believe he realized this. If Arceus really did bring the good members of the human race even, he must have known that some of their descendants might become evil.”

“Well even with that, there is also the fact that other people in this world might treat the Pokemon wrongly, not just humans. Hmph if this Arceus fella really is a god, then he must be a poor one when it comes to thinking.”

“That’s very much true,” Alice agreed. “One would think that though he might have just stayed in his world rather than just move most of the population to another planet in another universe. But what’s done is done. So, anything else you want to ask?”

The two incognito humans looked at each other before Kadoc continued.

“So where is this Arceus now?”

“He is holed up in the Hall of Legends in the Everfree forest down south, right next to Ponyville. He is open to visitors but I wouldn’t go there right now if I were you.”

“Why not?”

“Well, I would imagine he is in a bad mode right now with the whole humanity and Lostbelt situation.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, apparently Arceus didn’t check that this planet which we call Equus is actually another Earth before coming here. And that its humanity still exists. There is also the matter of the Lostbelts which are apparently alternate timelines with humans in them as well. On top of that, there is also this group called Chaldea that's wandering around somewhere trying to destroy us to save their world.”

Kadoc gripped the table with his hand in a reflexive manner but quickly relaxed himself.

“There is currently a worldwide manhunt for Chaldea and somethings called servants who are being sent by something called the Counter Force. I just hope that Arceus isn’t the one to catch them, cause I think at this point humans are at the bottom of his favorite list of species. I wouldn’t imagine him treating them well as prisoners for trying to destroy everything he worked so hard to achieve.”

Alice nearly flashed a knowing smile which did not go unnoticed by Anastasia.

Kadoc then got up from his seat. “Thank you miss Alice. I believe you have answered most of the questions we had. Let’s go, Ana.”

Anastasia's master then walked out of the restaurant, not even waiting for her.

“It was a pleasure talking to you two. Have a nice day.” And with that, she walked out after him.

As soon as she was outside, Kadoc quickly took her hand and started to move.

“I think we have learned all we can now. Let’s get back to the others.”

“I agree, that mare was starting to give us suspicious looks.

Eventually, they made their way out of the city and into the forest where their conversation continued.

“Can’t say this Lostbelt is like Scandinavia or Russia,” Kadoc said.

“Yes, unlike the last two it’s not snowing here,” Anastasia replied.

“You’re just now pointing that out? Well other than that it appears that humanity doesn’t exist here, at least not as humans anymore. But even that doesn’t add up since apparently this Arceus fella showed up nine months ago and brought humans with him, which is a little while after the Earth got bleached.”

“There is also the fact that this Lostbelt seems to cover 90% percent of the planet but has halted its growth. Why is that? All it has to do is expand a little further and this timeline fully replaces Proper Human History.”

“Yeah that is weird, why stop when it’s so close? Do you think it has something to do with why Its Tree of Emptiness is nowhere to be seen? Or maybe it has something to do with why 5 other Lostbelts have sprouted and stolen its territory.”

“....”

“Something is clearly not right here, let's get back to base and tell the others what we found.”

The duo walked until eventually, they were a little more than a mile out from the base.

“Alright, we’re not too far now Anastasia.”

Anastasia kept walking, but then her familiar Viy felt several shadows following them.

“Stay close to me, I don’t want to lose you like last ti-”

“Master.”

Anastasia then stopped in her tracks.

“Huh, what is it, why’d you stop?”

“We're being followed.”

Kadoc stopped, looked around, but didn’t see anything.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I cannot see them but I can sense five lifeforms that have been stalking us for a while.”

Kadoc looked again, not seeing anything. But then again, Anastasia was a Caster, which means she had some means of detection that was unavailable to him.

“Shall I deal with them, master? Or do you wish for us to make a break for it?”

“....No, for all we know they may have someone fast enough to keep up with us and that would just lead them back to the border. Let’s get rid of them here.”

The two turned around and faced the direction where they were coming from. Then the area several feet from them shimmered until a blue bipedal fox creature in a cape and cavalier along with three other creatures that they assumed were Pokemon appeared before them. One of them looked like some dark blue walking feline Pokemon with a fan-shaped head and claws for hands, another one resembled a leopard with a purple coat above its waistline, the final one was a large green standing lizard with a tail that was shaped like a Christmas tree.

Kadoc blinked before asking the obvious question. “And just who the hell are you guys?”

The fox smiled, and then tipped her hat until they could see her face.

“I am the Phantom Thief Fox. These are my assistants Sceptile, Liepard, and Weavile.”

A Phantom Thief...really?

“A Phantom Thief, are you going to rob us? Cause we got nothing to steal, trust me.”

“Oh, I’m not stealing anything from you guys today. Oh no, I’m more interested in who the two of you are. After all, your not really ponies are you?”

“...What do you mean?”

“ Well, first of all, two ponies walking alone through the forest are kinda suspicious. Secondly, you guys don’t have cutie marks, which is very odd for ponies of your age.”

Kadoc and Anastasia looked down at their flanks, for some reason the marks on their flanks had disappeared. The realization came upon them that it was what probably gave them away otherwise they would have never gone into that city.

These necklaces must be defective or something. Probably are what gave us away! I’ll have to file a complaint with that money-grubbing queen when we get back.

“Finally I just happened to overhear you two talking while in the city, something about a Tree of Emptiness, dealing with Arceus, and you mentioning something about reporting to Chaldea.” A sly smile adorned Fox’s face.

Kadoc looked as if there was no point in trying to deny and just sighed.

“I’m not going to ask how you figured us out, I’m just going to get to the point. You're trying to get us to lead you to our friends so you can catch us and snitch to your god aren’t you?”

“Correct. Although since I consider myself a nice person, I’ll just tie you guys up and leave you at the doorsteps of the Princesses. Cause even though you’re trying to murder billions of lives I think they would treat you much nicer than Arceus would.”

While Kadoc did not want to meet this god anytime soon, he could tell that she was not making her offer out of the kindness of her heart. Just from her smile alone, he could tell this person liked to troll and mess with people.

“Is that so? Sorry but I have no intention of getting myself captured. And if you think you’ll be able to take us both, you’ve got another thing coming!”

“Oh yeah chump well just see about that!” The Weavile said.

“Very well. But before we begin, could I ask you to drop whatever disguise is your wearing and introduce yourselves. After all, I did you the favor of dropping my illusion.”

Kadoc and Anastasia both looked at each other and nodded. Soon, their pony forms changed shape until the two unicorns were replaced by their original humans.

“So,” Fox said, looking them all over. “What should I call you lovebirds? Icy Princess and Brooding Boy?”

“Hmph, so you’re a troll huh? Knew it, do you annoy everyone you rob from?”

“Only the ones that deserve it. Which now that I think about it is basically everyone.”

“Well let me tell you right now thief, you have never faced the power of a servant before. As for my name-”

Kadoc held up his hand, his command spell beginning to glow.

“My name is Kadoc Zemlupus. A Master of Chaldea here to restore Proper Human History.”

“My name is Anastasia Nikoaevna Romanova of Russia. Servant of Kadoc Zemlupus, my class container is Caster.”

Kadoc stood behind Anastasia as she used her magic to make the temperature in the forest drop.

“Alright fox, let's see what you’ve got!”

Author's Note:

Really sorry about the late chapter. March was a month where I had a lot of work shifts and life stuff happening, and it’s somewhat nearly over.

I’ll try to get back to releasing every two weeks as we go into my birth month.

That being said I feel bad for making you all wait so I plan to make it up to you guys on Saturday. Hope you all liked the Chaldea debut chapter!

Comments

[bystanderreader]

So apparently my answer to my last comment on what gender Ritsuka is male and also what an info dump to learn that this AU New World, New Way fic takes place in an AU of the Lostbelt Story. And I don't know why that I see a sense of irony with Darnic being involved now maybe because you made them involved in the Lostbelt Story or that Goredolf one of his subordinate's son (in Apocrypha) is also involved and on the other side of the fight.

[Guikoi]

Huh... So... the Crypters are good guys in this? Kadoc I could understand, but the rest? I wonder who the Foreign God has up its sleeve for the other Lostbelts, then. If Chaldea has already dealt with Russia and Scandinavia (they're in the Wandering Sea after all) then that explains why Arceus mentioned there only being five storm domes.

That means China, India, Atlantis, Britain and South America are the ones present in Equestria. Even without Kirschtaria, Olympus is definitely going to be the one that makes itself priority one. After all, it's covering Marelantis, and everyone in Equestria is going to want to save them.

But it will be a right kick in the head for Equestria when they do cut down the Fantasy Tree Atlas and turn all of Marelantis into a bleached white marble, with everyone that was there pruned away. There's already precedent for this, what with Russia also leaving a "gap" in the Equestrian Lostbelt to reveal the bleached Earth underneath the Equestrian Texture.

I will say, Metroid Prime, that you have presented me with a very nice world with enough information to come up with a few theories, so thank you for that.

The most pressing concern for me is the Equestrian Lostbelt itself. Each Lostbelt split off from Proper Human History and went diwn a mistaken path... but how did Equestria come about, and when did it diverge?

Russia diverged when a meteor struck the Earth, forcefully inducing the most severe ice age to ever ravage the planet, and to survive Ivan fused humans with Demonic Beasts.

Scandinavia diverged when Surtr went AWOL on the original plan for Ragnarok, and decided to incinerate all of the Age of Gods' many Textures instead of just the Scandinavian Texture, and succeeded except for a small portion of Scandinavia protected by Odin and Skadi.

China diverged when Qin Shi Huang ("Qin" is pronounced "Chin") found Nezha's corpse and turned himself into a giant super computer and conquered the planet, building his Great Wall that encircled the planet to defend from invaders from the stars.

India diverged when all 33 million (I think) Divine Spirits of Indian Mythology came together to fuse with Arjuna, making Arjuna Over Gods, who set out to create a world without evil by deleting the Solar System (that's how far the Age of Man's Texture extends, the Indian Lostbelt's Texture may be smaller, but it is at least planetary) every once and a while... until Ashiya convinced him to start foing it constantly to make the world Arjuna wanted come about quicker, but Arjuna still gives the people ten days to pray between cycles.

The Atlantic Lostbelt diverged when Velber sent down three Arks of the Stars, one of which contained Sefar, who proceeded to single handedly slaughter all of Earth's Gods and civilizations, and in Proper Human History was defeated by someone wielding Excalibur, but in the Lostbelt was defeated when Zeus forced the Greek Gods (who are robots from space!) to fuse with him into the Olympian Megazord and defeated Sefar. This meant the Olympian Gods never died and were never forced into being mere Divine Spirits, unlike all the other Gods, and so the Age of Gods continued to the modern day... but this also meant Zeus was still connected the Chaos and the Primordial God/Inter-Universal Dyson-Sphere could still give him orders.

No idea how the other two diverged, since they're not out yet... and I also don't know much about Ashiya Douman's Japanese Lostbelt, so I can't comment there.

We still don't know the history of Equestria and how it diverged, I'm surprised no one bothered asking Harmony while she was there.

I think I have an idea.

I think it diverged when Sefar came down, similar to Atkantis, which is why Equestria has such a strong foundation despite not having humans at all. Sefar was not defeated, and has slaughtered all Gods snd civilizations and gone dormant until 14,000 years pass and Velber comes back to eat all her collected Spiritrons and then kill her (it can mass produce Sefar, so it doesn't matter whether she lives or dies).

Harmony was a very minor God, one forgotten about in Proper Human History (or maybe not? Maybe she's just not saying her name so Arceus can't find info on her?), but in this Lostbelt now the only God on Earth (Amaterasu should be fine, since she ran away from Sefar and back to the Sun).

Harmony survived Sefar by being such a minor God who hid away, letting the humans under her care be slaughtered by the White Titan of Tassili n'Ajjer so she can hide.

After Sefar went dormant, Harmony rounded up two surviving Phantasmal species, Unicorns and Pegasi, and elevated normal equines into intelligent beings, with other species following suit.

By focusing her people's society and civilization on things such as friendship and understanding, she hoped to create a strong people who could possibly defend against Sefar should she ever awaken again.

Unfortunately, some sought to bring down that civilization, and the people themselves went too far with the goals Harmony set out for them and became... unsuitable for defeating Sefar.

Knowing this, Harmony willingly fled to the Reverse Side of the World, and was content to wait until 14,000 years pass and Sefar awakens and calls Velber. She is willingly to watch as Sefar destroys all she holds dear and then watch Velber destroy Sefar and leave the Milky Way galaxy for another 14,000 years. Harmony knows she can just create another people, another civilization, and hope that this time the people will be strong enough to defend against the Arks of the Stars. She knows that when she makes a civilization strong enough to defend against the Harvest Star, she will be safe.

Maybe the Equestrian Lostbelt is a Scandinavia situation, where the Lostbelt King isn't the greatest threat in the Lostbelt, but instead that role goes to the slumbering White Titan? Maybe Sefar is asleep at the very bottom of Tartarus, or perhaps even below the prison entirely?

That... Metroid Prime... is my theory on the diverged and mistaken history of the Equestrian Lostbelt. The only thing I'm not happy with in my theory is Harmony's identity. I'm certain that she is a God that is known of in Proper Human History. I originally thought maybe she was the forgotten Goddess of Catalhoyuk, but... the Goddess of Catalhoyuk would never be content with ponies, she would only accept humans... so Harmony can't be her.

Seems I'll just have to wait until everything gets answered. I'm certain my theory will be dead wrong, because I'm an idiot, but I had fun coming up with it so thought I might as well put it here.

[Metroid Prime]

10754793

First of all, I love how you comment about the world and theorize about what’s going on, it’s comments like yours that i love reading every time I upload a chapter.

I didn’t want this story to just be the Lostbelt arc crossover with the new verse. I wanted to flip certain things on their head to make it more original. Having Team A still be on the side of Chaldea is one of them.

As for your theory I’ll say you got one thing right.

Please feel free to leave more comments like this in the future

[Guikoi]

10754871
I got something right?

Looks at my comment

I have no idea what what I could have gotten right. At least, no logical conclusion, I do have some gut instincts telling me what one I got right, but this isn't a situation where gut instinct is to be trusted.

My gut's telling me I'm right when it comes to Sefar, but that's not exactly trustworthy. That said, Sefar is or was present in Equestrua at one point. This is absolutely true because Sefar is an alien.

That statement doesn't make sense? No, it does. Let me explain.

Earth's timelines are all present at once, since the concept of "timelines" is Earth exclusive, similar to how the concept of death as we know it is exclusive to Earth.

This means timelines only apply to things within the sphere of influence of the current Age/Texture covering Earth.

So that means Velber heading to the Milky Way galaxy is separate from Earth's timelines. Everything Velber does is unaffected by anything happening on Earth (except the Moon Cell's jamming signal) and the only time it ever entered the Texture of Earth, which covers the Solar System, is when it deposited three Arks of the Stars in there.

This means the Umbral Star is present, or can be present, in all timelines, since to an alien from outside our star system, all Earth timelines would appear to be occuring simultaneously.

Now, the Arks themselves don't have to be in aby timeline. After all, wjen an alien enters the Solar System, it gets put into only a few timelines at the most, and isn't necessarily present for all of them.

The problem with the Arks is the fact that the World went through a Quantum Time Lock when they entered the Solar System. Meaning, them entering is going to be a constant for all Worlds going forward.

That's why the World made Excalibur instead of just abandoning that timeline, it couldn't. The timeline in which the Arks entered the World was now the trunk of the tree. You can't exactly prune the trunk of the tree.

The only way for Sefar to not be present in Equestria in some capacity is if the timeline diverged before Velber's invasion.

Now, this is entirely possible, but unlikely. If that was the case, where are all the other Gods? Unless something else happened that made Harmony the only one present and not either completely gone or just in the Reverse Side, then... I find it hard to believe.

Was I correct that Sefar was still present? I mean, probably, since she doesn't have to be present as Sefar herself. There could be an Altera situation, where her backup is now a separate entity, or perhaps a Valkyrie situation, where many entites were made from Sefar's corpse?

GASP! Are the Alicorn Princesses made from Sefar's body? Probably not, since they have an Authority over the Sun and Moon. Actually, no, that's still possible so long as they're enshrined by humanity.

That said, Humanity is dead (hey, that skrt of rhymed!). Ponies wouldn't be able to enshrine stuff like humans could. Humans could do it because in the Nasuverse, Humanity as a collective is a horrible eldritch abomination that would make Cthulhu quake in his sea boots. Ponies aren't a horrible eldritch abomination. They're closer to being Divine Beasts enshrined by humanity, seeing as they all have some sort of Authority.

Earth Ponies have Authority over the soil and fertility. Pegasi have an Authority over the skies and storms. Unicorns don't seem to have an Authority by themselves, since they're not using things not easily achieveable by Magecraft from the Age of Gods.

Which makes sense, even if Harmony were the only God left, and even she has been forgotten by her ponies, those ponies just don't have the same affect on the World that humans do, and so they can't end the Age of Gods like humans could. So they'd still technically be in the Age of Gods.

Though, I guess we might as well call it the Age of Equis at this point, since there's only one (two) God around and she (both) looks like a horse.

Random thought but, is Equestria Tartarus the same thing as Greek Tartarus, or did Harmony just salvage the Greco-Roman stuff and repurpose it for herself? Cerberus doesn't look the same, so I'm guessing she at least built that from the ground up to somewhat resemble the original?

Man, there's so many questions to ask, so many in fact that I keep forgetting them as they get replaced by others.

This is less a series of questions and more a stream of consciousness at this point.

[Hellshooter]

10754871
Ah, so team A aren’t all bad guys in this story, that’s nice to know. I guess it is safe to presume that blueblood a and his anti Pokémon squad are going to be the stand in for the actual crypters in this story then?

I had my suspicions when Rasputin approached them earlier, but I wasn’t completely sure.

[Metroid Prime]

10762148

The Crypters exist but all the members minus Beryl and Daybit have been replaced. Blueblood and his group are the secondary antagonists who will cause trouble for Equestria alone