Worlds Apart: The Chosen of the Prognosticus

by GMBlackjack

Generosity Awakens

Rarity opened her eyes to the sight of a noxious, roiling purple sky with rippling squares of darkness throughout. Bolts of purple lightning streaked soundlessly from one end of her vision to another, unnerving her with their ghostly power.

She was in danger. That, she knew more than anything else. She didn’t move at first, gauging if there was anybody nearby that would see her move. Finding nothing in her field of view, she jumped to her hooves in a battle stance, ready to take on anyone and anything.

There was nobody in sight. She stood on top of a tower made entirely of pitch-black material, cold to the touch like metal, yet earthy like marble. At every sharp corner, the blackness was replaced by a jarring white outline, giving everything a wireframe appearance. In the distance, she saw more towers like her own, each at varying heights. She could only see three or four towers away before the dark smog of the Void clouded her view.

As far as she was concerned, this was an endless castle of darkness.

She took stock of herself, first. She was in perfect health and condition as far as she could tell; even her mane was still styled as she liked it: a complicated purple spiral. Finding herself presentable, she made sure she was ready to defend herself. She went through the list of combat spells she had learned from Twilight over the years—raising a small barrier shield to protect herself and firing a laser out of her horn. Lastly, she summoned a small, crescent-shaped blade made out of pure magic. She’d only learned this spell recently, thinking it would be a far more elegant and magically efficient method of combat that wouldn’t run her ragged by swinging her horn around everywhere; avoiding undue heat stress on her mane in the process. As she slashed the blade around with her magic, she berated her past self for learning such a spell. Now she might actually have to use it. The idea did not appeal to her.

She dispelled the blade but kept its knowledge close in her mind.

Finally, she went over what she knew. Wedding… dark magic heart… failed attack… green… and then explosion. Whatever that green thing did, it sent me… here. She glanced around, frowning. The aesthetic sure matches Bleck’s abilities. This is probably his home. I’m alone in the middle of enemy territory.

There was only one door. Seeing as she couldn’t stand here forever waiting for something to happen, she cautiously opened it with her telekinesis, looking through it from a distance. The castle interior was just as black as the exterior, though the white outlines did miracles to help her mind define its actual shape. Seeing no one on the other side, she stepped through, arriving on a sort of balcony that overlooked a lower hall.

She saw a familiar face down below; a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane: Rainbow Dash. Rarity almost called out to her, but stopped herself. There was someone else down there—a two-legged jester creature. He snapped his fingers, and Rainbow Dash was encased in a magic box.

“Hey! Come out and fight like a man!” Rainbow kicked at the box with her hooves, doing nothing.

“My my my, feisty, aren’t we?” The jester bowed extravagantly. “Well, if I am to fight like a man, you must fight like a flighty mare! Which means you would flee the coop like a chicken in fear of its life.”

“Did you just call me a chicken!?”

“I compared you to a chicken. Really, does no one understand similes in this castle?” He shrugged. “Ah well, like a ball at the top of the hill, I must roll with it, but in what direction?” With a snap of his fingers, he and Rainbow Dash were gone in a transient ripple of space-time.

Rarity clenched her jaw. I couldn’t have done anything. I am not an accomplished magician. He would have made quick work of me. It would simply not do to have two of us captured. It… She let out a tense sigh, drooping her head toward the ground. I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash.

Carefully, she made her way down a stairway into the hall below, finding that it had dozens of doors in every direction. Might as well try one… Once again, she opened it from a distance. Inside, she saw not enemies—but friends. A half dozen crystal ponies marched through the room. Seeing no enemies, she waved to them. “Yoo-hoo! Darlings, over here!”

They all turned to look at her with blank, haunted expressions.

Rarity had enough experience with magic to know when ponies weren’t in control of their minds. One of the biggest signs was when they had blank expressions devoid of emotion, and yet were stampeding toward her with the clear intent to attack.

Not wanting to engage in combat with mind-altered ponies at all, Rarity ran through another set of doors, slamming them shut behind her. She twisted around the moment she was through, bucking the part of the doors that latched, bending the material significantly with the attack. When the crystal ponies tried the door, they would find it rather difficult to open.

That probably won’t hold them for long. Scrambling for cover, Rarity ran through the room she found herself in, a large collection of pillars. There were paintings on many of the walls, but every last one of them was a solid matte black in a white frame. To most ponies, they would just assume this was a room of darkness, not of art. But Rarity saw the genius in the design—this was a room meant to respect absolute nothingness. The End. Hopelessness. It was the genius cry of some bitter decorator.

Rarity would have spent a lot of time analyzing the design choices, but she was currently running for her life and only made passing notes on it. Even this may have been too much, for she heard the crystal ponies smashing the door in, pursuing her with alarming speed.

I don’t want to fight them. She jumped through another door, entering a room with a mess of pipes running across the ceiling. I’m not sure I can.

She didn’t have to. As they were catching up, an unusual creature stepped out of a swirl of Void, standing between Rarity and the pursuing crystal ponies. It was like nothing Rarity had ever seen before: two legs, four arms, and covered head to toe in flamboyant orange armor with red highlights.

“You might wanna keep runnin’,” he said in an uncharacteristically jovial voice. “You probably don’t want to see this.”

“Please, don’t hurt them!” Rarity pleaded.

“No promises. But if you don’t run, I guarantee more will find you after I’m done making noise.” He slammed a halberd into the ground, sending out a shockwave that toppled four of the crystal ponies over. “Run!”

Rarity bit her lip—but did as was told. He’s saving me. I have no right to complain. I have no right to complain. Could I even stop him if I wanted to?

Feeling powerless, Rarity set her jaw and kept running. She passed through three more empty rooms before coming to another long hallway. This time, she ran up the stairway to the balcony and out the door. She popped out the other side, on top of another castle tower.

Five crystal ponies were up there, staring at her.

“Oh no, no no no…” Rarity said, raising a shield.

“You’re… you’re not crazy?” a green stallion asked.

Rarity peered over the edge of her shield. “You’re not crazy?”

“We’re hiding from the crazy ponies! Oh, I’m so glad they didn’t get you, Rarity!”

A raspberry-colored filly jumped for joy. “You’re gonna save us! You’re gonna save us!”

I am doing a very poor job of saving ponies so far. Rarity tossed her mane back and cleared her throat. “I shall offer you what protection I can, my fellow ponies. As the Element of Generosity, it is my duty.” She bowed slightly to them. Stay in control. If they doubt you, they doubt themselves. “I’m afraid I cannot offer much else… does anyone know what happened?”

The green stallion reiterated what Rarity already knew. They had seen the same things at the “wedding,” and then some other ponies that tried to hunt them down. Though they escaped by blocking a door with magic—they had a unicorn who knew the fuse spell. Rarity told them about the jester and the warrior that had saved her, though she left out the capture of Rainbow Dash and the ambiguous fate of their confused fellow ponies.

“So… what do we do now?” the filly asked.

Rarity forced a confident smirk. “We go back into the castle… and see what we can learn.”

She hoped she wasn’t leading them to their doom.

~~~

I remember that day well…
The room was warm.
The whole place was at peace.

“Ugh… uuugh…”

“You’re awake at last?”

“Where... am I? Is this… a human’s home? Bleccch!”

“Don’t wiggle like that. I found you at the cliff base. You took quite a fall.”

“You’re a human, correct? I don’t… repulse you? I am of the Tribe of Darkness…”

“Why would that matter? Anyone with a heart would not ignore an injured soul!”

That was the day our paths crossed.

That day… That was the day our tragedy was set in motion.

Comments

[Spellflame]

I wonder if Rainbow Dash will take the place of Mr. L
Lady L, the rainbow wave?

[Spellflame]

L for loyalty

[Shilic]

Lastly, she summoned a small, crescent-shaped blade made out of pure magic. She’d only learned this spell recently, thinking it would be a far more elegant and magically efficient method of combat that wouldn’t run her ragged by swinging her horn around everywhere; avoiding undue heat stress on her mane in the process.

I'm a sucker for magical blade spells, and this one's no exception. A more elegant weapon, for a more civilized age mare.

“Hey! Come out and fight like a man!” Rainbow kicked at the box with her hooves, doing nothing.

Huh. "Fight like a man?" Was 'man' ever used in the show? Where did Rainbow learn this term?

“I compared you to a chicken. Really, does no one understand similes in this castle?” He shrugged. “Ah well, like a ball at the top of the hill, I must roll with it, but in what direction?” With a snap of his fingers, he and Rainbow Dash were gone in a transient ripple of space-time.

Don't worry, Dimentio; we apricate your similes. That's what you do best, right? Perform for an audience?

Rarity ran through the room she found herself in, a large collection of pillars. There were paintings on many of the walls, but every last one of them was a solid matte black in a white frame. To most ponies, they would just assume this was a room of darkness, not of art. But Rarity saw the genius in the design—this was a room meant to respect absolute nothingness. The End. Hopelessness. It was the genius cry of some bitter decorator.

Rarity would have spent a lot of time analyzing the design choices, but she was currently running for her life and only made passing notes on it.

I love this. Rarity analyzing the aesthetics of Castle Bleck. I wonder if she could find inspiration here? It is a bit more grim than her usual work, though.

She didn’t have to. As they were catching up, an unusual creature stepped out of a swirl of Void, standing between Rarity and the pursuing crystal ponies. It was like nothing Rarity had ever seen before: two legs, four arms, and covered head to toe in flamboyant orange armor with red highlights.

“You might wanna keep runnin’,” he said in an uncharacteristically jovial voice. “You probably don’t want to see this.”

Oh, who is this mysterious figure? Whoever he is, I bet, unlike Dimentio, he fights like a man. Or a lady. Or a lady who dresses like a man.

And so, Rarity fills the slot Peach did, only she's been saved by our new best friend Unnamed Orange Guy. Can she evade capture? And what of that mysterious (and probably very handsome) Orange Guy? He's not from Avatar. Is he foreshadowing worlds to come? Guess we'll all just have to wait and find out...

A human, and one of the Tribe of Darkness... a gesture of kindness... and the first, unknowing step on the road to despair.

[LordCalamity]

Hmm... I feel as though either Rarity or Rainbow Dash will be set up for the really final battle at some point. Probably Rarity.
Still, I'm liking how its going so far. Are we going to see Francis, that chameleon nerd character? It would make for some funny humor.

[hamster wizard]

10614107
Could be. Might change the ending up. Without the power of Luigi that is.

[Spellflame]

10614671
No, he’s still there

[FanOfMostEverything]

Nice touch with Rarity appreciating the aesthetic intentions of Castle Bleck. It will be interesting to see what she can accomplish... if anything. Her adversaries are terribly powerful, but Rarity has shown an impressive degree of stealth. Understatement and subtlety are important parts of the fashionista's craft, after all.

And of course Gilgamesh showed up. They are in the Void. Though I wonder which Final Fantasy Twilight will find herself in, if any. Gil's kind of weird like that.

10614206
In a sense.

[Blaster M]

Right from S1E2 we learn Rarity knows how to fight.