The Eternal Sphere

by Xarmar13

Decimation and Desolation

With their business on Moonbase concluded, Twilight had her ship transport everyone on board. While she was confident that the Executioners could not detect her ship since the ship’s coding was undetectable, getting out of the combat zone before the administration drones arrived was still a good idea.

As they prepared to depart, Twilight received another communication from Wittcomb.

“What did you learn?” Wittcomb asked.

“Unfortunately, nothing that we didn’t know already. Dr. Leingod was working with limited information, but he knew enough important details to act on it. His intentions for the experiment were so Fayt, Maria and Sophia would be able to enter the Creator’s realm and defeat him.”

“So you’re saying it is the Creator?!” Wittcomb paused for a moment and let out a deep, resigned sigh. “Well, given their capabilities and what they look like, it’s not surprising.”

“I take it that the planetary defense fleet is under attack?”

Wittcomb nodded grimly. One of the officers placed an image of one of the Executioners on display. The creature shown looked like a six-winged dragon. Its jagged scales made it look like it was wearing a spiky jacket. “Based on their size, they easily surpass Federation battleships in offense, defense and speed. We have little chance against them. It’s just a matter of time before they breach our final line of defense.”

Twilight was silent. Lyra and Sophia could feel the sorrow welling up within the alicorn. They could sense the frustration, grief, and rage roiling within her. Sophia decided to speak for Twilight. “We will be headed to the planet Styx where we will be looking for a way to resolve this matter. I understand that it is too late to save Earth now, but we can still save what’s left of our galaxy.”

“Do you need an escort? It would be too dangerous to travel to Styx with the Executioners all over the place.”

“We will be fine, trust us.”

Silence reigned in the room for several minutes while Wittcomb looked like he sucked a lemon. He soon spoke up again. “Very well, we shall remain here and face our fates with our heads held high. I ask you one favor: observe our fight and remember us in our most glorious moment. We may not win, but we will make them bleed before our end.”

Sophia knew that the Aquaelie was about to attempt something suicidal. The militaristic side of her could only nod grimly in respect for the soldiers who would soon become erased from existence. “I wish you the best, Commodore.”

“Before I go, may I have a word with Sophia in private?” Wittcomb requested. The others left the room in response. Once Sophia was alone in the room with Wittcomb’s transmission, he continued. “Sophia Esteed, I have heard stories about you. You were selected to attend the Federation’s top military academy when you graduated high school. It makes me sad to know that that future is now closed to you because of this crisis.”

Sophia nodded, “I’ve learned a lot about myself on my journey through Elicoor. I’ve learned things that I never, in my wildest dreams, would have imagined myself as. I’ve learned truths about myself that any normal person would never believe.

“After learning these truths, I realized that my destiny was not to become a part of the Federation military. I’ve learned that I am destined for much greater things. For the sake of this, I will survive, I will thrive, and I will ascend to the heights that call to me.”

Wittcomb chuckled wistfully, “Yes, I wish that I could see you rise to grasp what fate has in store for you. I am sure that your future will be glorious. I only hope that you never forget the faces you met before your rise.”

Sophia nodded once more, “I will be sure that your memory is never forgotten, Commodore.”

Wittcomb turned away from the screen. “Send them in. I want them to see this.”

Sophia called the others back into the room. Once Twilight got back in the captain’s chair, she assigned the Quark officers positions on the bridge. Marietta began plotting the course for Styx.

Meanwhile, Wittcomb made an announcement to his crew while the transmission was still going. “Attention all crewmembers: The fate of the galaxy rests on the impending battle. Let us prove here and now that the Aquaelie’s crew is the best in the Federation! This Creator has sentenced us all to annihilation. Let us all stand together against him, and live! If we cannot survive, then we will send a message that we will not accept our fate quietly! We will show this Creator that they were right to fear the power and might of the Federation!” The officers on the bridge voiced their determination and readiness to face the Executioners. They were ready to fight to the bitter end. “Onward, my faithful comrades!” The transmission ended there.

With the Aquaelie in motion, Twilight’s ship began moving on an evasion course to avoid the Executioners. The Aquaelie fired everything they had to create a distraction to draw the Executioners to them. Meanwhile, the other ships in the area protecting Earth followed the battleship’s example and bombarded the draconic swarm. Their main cannons, their Creation Cannons, destroyed a few of the Executioners.

Unfortunately, that was far from enough as the beasts counterattacked by unleashing devastating blasts that utterly erased most of the remaining ships. With the defense breached, some of the Enforcers moved toward Earth and fired powerful blasts at the planet. The first shot was absorbed by the planetary defense shield but also caused significant damage to the shield and the targeted city of New York.

The Aquaelie moved to attack the Enforcers who were assaulting Earth and destroyed two of them with its Creation Cannon. The Enforcers had enough of the ship’s futile resistance and trapped it in an energy field that slowly collapsed around the ship and narrowed its dimensions until the Enforcer clutched its hand and the Aquaelie was erased.

The Enforcers resumed their attack on the Earth, charging up a powerful blast that reached magnitude five. The blast of dark light was unleashed and the planetary defense shield could not withstand the energy. The last thing that was seen on Twilight’s ship monitor was the Earth being turned into swiss cheese by the red and black light.

Nothing was said by anyone for several minutes. Nothing could be said to express the tragedy that they bore witness to.

Twilight kept a brave face, but her sorrow could not be hidden by the psychics of the group. Twilight didn’t care that they could feel her sadness.

Unfortunately, the damage caused by the Executioners at this point was extensive to the point where it was nearly unsalvageable. With the Federation, Aldian, and Vendeeni homeworlds obliterated, the only sign of intergalactic travelers were those who had evaded the Executioners. It was only a matter of time before those ships were hunted down as well.

With the situation as it was, she would have to rewind time in the Eternal Sphere to a safe point and undo the damage caused by the Executioners. However, this would also mean that the digital beings around her would have their own timelines altered to where the Leingod experiments never existed and the children would be able to live their lives as if the experiments never happened. The only ones who would be able to carry their memory would be herself, Lyra, Sophia and Thanatas.

With a sigh, Twilight spoke, “I’m going to get some rest. I suggest all of you do the same.”

Twilight left the bridge while Lyra went after her. The templar master knew that her friend was hurting and in need of a shoulder to cry on.

The others went to their own cabins while some visited each other as they worked to cope with the tragic event they witnessed.

Sophia lingered on the bridge a little longer than the others. While the Quark members were still at their stations, monitoring the Executioner activity, Sophia paid no attention to them as her thoughts drifted to the courageous men and women who gave their lives in defense of their homeworld. She thought about the countless lives lost facing a foe that they were certain that they could not defeat, and yet they did not flee, they showed no fear, they did not back down. They may have failed, but in their final moments, those soldiers showed that they had truly earned that title of ‘soldier’.

Sophia gave a heartfelt salute to the courageous fallen defenders before leaving the bridge and returning to her cabin.

---

Hours passed, tears were shed, and everyone, who had any personal connection to Earth, went through the stages of grief while they could. Some were able to find rest, others were not. Regardless, time marched on and the problem would continue to worsen until the threats were removed.

Soon, the ship entered the atmosphere of the dead world of Styx. The planet was barren and rocky and preliminary scans showed that while the atmosphere was breathable, there was no water to support life. The area around the Time Gate was surrounded by an eternal sandstorm.

Even worse was that smaller versions of the Executioners were present on the planet. Twilight explained that the smaller versions existed as a means of surgically removing threats on worlds that they were programmed to not destroy. To the Elicoorians’ relief, their planet was on the list of planets they couldn’t destroy.

Thanks to the ship’s stealth coding, they were able to move down to the planet undetected by the Executioners. However, the safest point to transport down was a kilometer away from the Time Gate. It was still the best they could hope for since there were a number of Proclaimers and Enforcers along the way to the relic.

Once ready, they transported down to the surface.

It wasn’t long before all thirteen fighters were transported onto the desolate planet. Twilight placed a protection spell on everyone to keep the roaring sandstorm from blasting sand in their eyes so everyone had a chance to look around.

The land was as barren as they came. There was nothing but rocks and sand as far as the eye could see, which was not very far since the sandstorm obscured their vision. But their vision wasn’t obscured enough to not pick up on movement not far away. Everyone was certain that the movements came from the Executioners wandering the sandstorm.

“Stay close,” Lyra warned. “It would be easy to get separated in the sandstorm and get picked off one by one. These guys are tough so don’t engage one alone if you get separated.”

Everyone agreed before proceeding forward into the raging storm.

Not far into their small journey, they encountered a pair of Proclaimers who looked ready to fight.

Fayt and Albel charged ahead, Albel moving with his usual serpentine pattern. However, before they were able to get into attack range of the overdressed ponies, they teleported behind everyone and rotated once while unleashing a series of glyphs that spun on the ground, smiting everyone who ended up under the small glowing circles. Twilight, Lyra and Sophia reacted quickly by shielding themselves while Nel, Adray and Maria, who ended up next to their enemies, were not so lucky. They were smited several times before they could react.

One of the Proclaimers attempted to cast a Dark Sphere symbol to instantly kill several members of the group, but Sophia saw it coming and silenced her. The other Proclaimer tried to do what the other failed to do but Twilight was ready for that one with her own Silence symbol.

Peppita provided support by healing the injured with a Healing Dance before Maria fired an explosive laser arc on the ground which the Proclaimers got caught in, singeing them a little.

The Proclaimers were not designed for fighting so they only knew the Dark Sphere symbol and the Divine Wave attack they used earlier with the spinning glyphs. They were still tough and rarely staggered against their enemies’ attacks. However, Fayt was ready with a powerful attack of his own. Channeling his destructive energy into his blade, a dark aura began to spiral in a large area around him. Twilight could sense space beginning to distort around the swordsman so she had everyone back away for a moment.

What happened next happened in nearly an instant as Fayt teleported behind the Proclaimers and delivered a spatial rending slash that would have bisected any normal being. However, the Proclaimers were no ordinary beings and the fact that they survived, albeit barely since they were cut in two and were working desperately to repair themselves, was a testament to their durability. That didn’t last long before a wave of dragon heads from Albel finished off the Proclaimers.

“Damn, and these guys were only the first bunch,” Cliff stated in shock. “It’s gonna be tough getting to the Time Gate.”

“We need to keep going,” Sophia said. “We are not letting a bunch of drones get in our way.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and pushed forward.

Another surprise came not far beyond where they battled the Proclaimers. They spotted some flying mechanical drones nearby as well as more quadrupedal military assault drones.

“What are these things doing on this world?” Fayt asked.

Twilight pondered on this for a moment, and as much as she didn’t want to believe it, the presence of the drones made her suspect that this was the case. “I think the hacker has learned how to insert our defense drones into the Eternal Sphere. I thought it was a coincidence back on Moonbase, since the Federation uses the same model drones that we do, but these models being here tells me that they are being inserted into the Eternal Sphere to keep us from the Time Gate.”

“It just means that we are on the right track to stopping our mysterious foe,” Maria said.

As the group engaged the mechanical drones, they soon realized that while they had the same patterns like the ones on Moonbase, these models had increased firepower and were made of stronger metal. It was still no match for their enhanced blades, but they did notice that the armor was a little harder to penetrate.

At one point, the group found themselves surrounded by a swarm of flying minigun drones with their weapons spinning and ready to fire. Roger reacted by throwing his helmet high into the air before he triggered a powerful laser weapon within it that fired in a cage pattern around the group and dropped luminous destruction all around them.

During Roger’s light show, a pair of Robo Gunners, which was the name Twilight finally gave for the quadrupedal assault drones, tried to sneak up behind them to bombard them with missiles. Peppita saw them coming and decided to unleash a powerful move of her own. Calling on her special symbology, she bowed and opened a hole in the ground. From that hole emerged a huge white, fluffy, demonic teddy bear-like creature with tiny bat wings and sharp claws.

The Faerie Friend, as she called it, mimicked her movements and swiped its powerful claws that tore through the mechanical weapons’ armor and ripped their weapons from their chassis. The others watched in awe as the beast moved in synchronization with Peppita. The fourteen year old dancer showed everyone in that moment that she was a powerhouse in her own right.

It wasn’t long before they had their first encounter with an Enforcer. Twilight assured the group that the planetary type of Enforcer was nowhere near as powerful as the variation that destroyed ships because having all of them being that strong would have made them too powerful for surgical strikes against smaller threats. Of course, they were still quite powerful.

Once the Enforcer spotted them, it moved in to attack. It made the first move by creating a large number of glowing red orbs and firing them at everyone. Some were hit for explosive damage and were sent flying backwards while others managed to block with powerful barriers. The Enforcer aimed a destruction symbol at the group but Twilight was ready with an override symbol that canceled out other administrative symbols.

With its momentum interrupted, Lyra and Sophia capitalized on the moment by rapidly slashing away at the draconic monster but was forced to back away when it created a large number of orbs and sent them at both templars, the orbs tracking their movements. Lyra created a null zone out of void energy and drew the orbs to her while moving it toward the Enforcer who attempted to counter it with a destruction symbol. The two ended up in a power clash where neither side appeared to be giving the other an inch. However it was only a matter of time until Lyra fell to exhaustion since the Enforcer was not given that capability.

Mirage moved behind the monster and rushed it with a series of punches and kicks that not only distracted the Enforcer, but nudged it forward and closer to Lyra’s null zone. With all of its concentration on maintaining the attack, it tried to act quickly by attacking Mirage with its long tail which was grabbed by Thanatas. The death knight was stronger than she looked and was able to keep the tail still while Mirage continued moving the beast forward with her Avenger Charge technique.

The beast soon came into contact with Lyra’s null zone and was consumed by it until there was nothing left.

The group took a moment to rest after facing a tough opponent before continuing forward.

Thankfully, while there were a number of drones and Proclaimers that they encountered as they advanced, there were very few Enforcers in the area and it wasn’t long before they reached their destination. They spotted a strange stone circle on the ground but Twilight assured the group that it posed no importance as the object that they were looking for was in front of them.

The Time Gate looked like a sandstone monument composed of a pair of hollow rectangles: one to compose the frame and another inside the larger one. A pair of spherical protrusions could be seen halfway up the rectangles. At the base and on top were apparati that looked like they could rotate the stone rectangles that built into them. A pair of stone platforms could be seen on either side of it and behind it.

Fortunately, the Executioners were not interested in the Time Gate for the time being and they were able to investigate the relic unmolested.

As they approached the Time gate, tremors were felt around them and while everyone else tensed at the possibility of anything, Twilight and Lyra remained calm as they looked at the Time Gate as the stones rotated horizontally until they were nearly perpendicular with each other.

The tremors also caused a book to fall from the top of the Time Gate. Sophia had a good idea on the subject matter of the book since she saw the one on Moonbase. Once the tremors stopped, Twilight moved to pick it up and informed everyone that it was indeed another of the mysterious numbered books written by the mysterious 'PDP'. It had the number 'three' on it. She also uttered the five words that were in the book before placing it in her pocket dimension. "'goddess the the the face'? I hope we're near the end of this book hunt so we can solve this strange puzzle and move on."

Twilight and Lyra turned to the rest of the group. “Alright, me and Lyra will be going on ahead. Since we have actual bodies in our world, we can exit the Eternal Sphere the normal way. We will make sure that your emergence into our universe doesn’t cause a scene. Once Sophia establishes a connection to our universe, follow us when you can.”

With that said, Twilight and Lyra approached the gate with the princess typing in the ‘log out’ command into the relic console. Once finished, the two mares simply faded out.

“So, how does this work?” Cliff asked.

Sophia shrugged, “I’m just gonna go ahead and try the direct method.” As she approached, her right arm glowed blue before a number of magic circles appeared around her arm. She pointed her hand at the Time Gate before a blast hit the interface and tore open a rift through time and space. “Yep, simplest way and no unnecessary complications to muddy up the process.”

Thanatas rolled her eyes, “Can’t disagree with you there, but I still like being able to get where I want by opening dimensional rifts wherever I please.”

“So we’ll be able to face the enemy Twilight mentioned on the other side of that?” Fayt asked.

“Most likely,” Maria answered.

Cliff pounded his hand, “Then let’s get in there and kick some hacker butt.”

“There’s no telling what awaits us on the other side,” Nel said. “Let’s proceed with caution.”

The group waited a few moments to give Twilight time to get everything ready before they approached the tear and walked through it.

---

What awaited the group was and wasn’t what they were expecting. They were expecting a civilization with advanced technology and ponies, assuming they were the main race because of Twilight and Lyra. What they didn’t expect was a number of different races among them. All of them were dressed in various styles of synthetic clothes. Most of the races they saw were only known to the humans from libraries containing subjects on mythological creatures. They saw bipedal griffons, yaks, dragons, hippogryphs, creatures that looked like a hybrid of pony and insect, and a race that only Sophia knew about because of her experiences with the Ihan Crystal: Protoss.

And they were all staring at them…

“Whoa, did something just come out of that Eternal Sphere display?” one of the onlookers, a griffon, asked.

“Is it a new feature being advertised?” asked a hippogryph.

“That is so cool! Now I wanna play the game more than ever!” a dragon exclaimed.

As the onlookers gossiped, the group looked around to assess the situation. “Looks like we’re pulling in a crowd,” Sophia said.

“This doesn’t look like an enemy base, but keep your guard up,” Fayt said.

The standoff continued until they saw a group of four armored Protoss wielding the same weapons Sophia and Lyra used approach them.

“We heard reports of a disturbance in the area,” one of the Protoss said. “Please disperse calmly and return to your day.” The crowd complied and went on their way.

“You lot are coming with us,” another Protoss declared. “I have no idea who you are but your outfits and thoughts tell me that you are not from around here.”

The group took up defensive stances. With them being in an unknown world, they weren’t sure how things worked here or if they would be treated fairly. However, that became unnecessary.

“Stand down, they are with me,” spoke a familiar voice.

The Protoss looked behind them and quickly moved out of Lyra’s way before delivering a stiff and hasty salute with a hand over their chests. “Yes, Highlord!”

“Sorry about the welcoming committee, I logged out and ended up back at my house. It took me some time to get back into my normal armor and get over here.”

Lyra was wearing a dark blue short top and shorts. Over that was a strange-looking slate green armor over her chest, shoulders, legs and the back of her neck. A pair of curved metal rods over her shoulders had energies of blue, green and red traveling along them. Sophia sensed an invisible energy barrier covering the mare and the armor was lightweight and offered complete freedom of movement while maximizing protection.

“Hmph, too flashy, no stealth,” came Albel’s opinion. That was when he felt a chill travel down his spine as he felt the presence of someone behind him. He was paralyzed with the thought that if he turned around that it would lead to a world of pain.

Sophia looked behind Albel to find Lyra standing behind him within a hair’s breadth of his neck. A playful yet menacing smirk adorned her face. “What was that about not being stealthy?” Lyra whispered into Albel’s ear.

By the time Albel turned around, Lyra was gone from behind him and suddenly reappeared next to a copy of herself. The real Lyra waved a hand into the illusory copy to banish it.

“Anyway, welcome to Ponyville. I will be your guide as we check out the town and make our way to Princess Twilight’s castle where she is awaiting us.”

“Wait, you said ‘Princess’ Twilight? We’ve been hanging out with actual royalty this whole time?” Cliff asked.

“Are you saying Her Majesty wasn’t ‘royal’ enough in your opinion?” Nel playfully countered, obviously referring to Romeria.

“W-what? N-no! I mean…” Nel’s laughter made Cliff groan. “I can’t believe you, of all people would joke like that.”

“Anyway, let’s get going,” Lyra said. “I doubt the hacker will be able to try anything since they can’t get what they want without Twilight and Twilight placed the Eternal Sphere on a time lock so the Executioners can’t advance their campaign for now. She explained to the public that the servers were down for emergency maintenance.

“For now, we can take our time and build up our strength for what’s to come. But now, it’s time for that tour so follow me.”

With nothing else to do, the group followed closely behind the templar highlord.

Author's Note:

I do apologize for how far apart the updates have become. I haven't dedicated a lot of time per day on working on this.

Anyway, it may be another chapter or 2 before our protagonists resumes their pursuit of the mysterious hacker. Until then, there are things to do. Sophia has an important pony to meet. Twilight has another important pony to report to and there's still one more of the mysterious Books of Prophecy to find before the puzzle can be figured out.

Comments

[Black--Soul]

Nice, update! So perhaps a rogue familie member trying to get rid of the compatition? It was stated they had that kind of familie members...

[Black--Soul]

Silence reigned in the room for several minutes while Wittcomb looked like he sucked a lemon. He soon spoke up again. “Very well, we shall remain here and face our fates with our heads held high. I ask you one favor: observe our fight and remember us in our most glorious moment. We may not win, but we will make them bleed before our end.”

Reminds me of the Protoss in the fight of Shakuras Xel'Naga Tempel.