Chapter 23: Fell on Black Days
Void knew the legends. They were, after all, his living history having been there in one form or another since the beginning. He watched from afar as his sister formed and nurtured a world at the center of the known universe. That was all any of them had done since the beginning. Watch. They each had extraordinary power. This they knew because they could feel it coursing through them. They were all capable of doing great or terrible things with said power. In those early days they were not sure what they were capable of, unsure of their limits if any. All of them except Aine. She seemed to have been born with certainty of purpose. Perhaps that was her gift. Or curse.
Again. Perspective. He had found the space in between places and found that much more to his liking. That In Between called to him in a way he could only imagine how life called to Aine and death called to Samael. It was chaotic. The hidden primordial soup of existence. Or perhaps another way to look at it was the grisly, meaty veins and arteries underneath all the clean quiet and picturesque views of reality space. Though the In Between had things that resided there it was, in fact, a dead universe in of itself.
All the different living dimensions expanded. All things thrown out into the nothing by a great cataclysmic explosion. What had triggered it? A supreme godly parental figure more ancient and powerful than he and his siblings? Perhaps. The question had been asked but no answer was to be found. Regardless, as the facets of existence expanded so too did they collapse somewhere else. How cruel it was, Void thought, that he could glimpse the multiverse of possibilities, but never break through. Cosmic rules that superseded them all no matter how hard he tried to break them. No gods could play in another’s sandbox, as Chaz had put it once long ago. They had no power beyond their boundaries. And he knew where those boundaries were well, for he knew his kingdom of chaos like he knew no other.
But if reality was life, where the magic grew and lived and eventually flowed back down through the well into the cosmic ether of the In Between before coming back around again, then cosmic balance demanded that there was a counterweight to it all. Something that existed beyond the boundaries of the In Between, beyond all the magic, all the life, all the death, all the souls. An emptiness. The Outside. Anti-existence. Anti-life. The true darkness to the light.
Long ago, when Aine’s creation was still new and her experiment just starting, Void had called out to his sisters and brothers. He had discovered a curiosity and wanted to hear their opinion on it. Even the twins, who did not do much other than observe, came at his request. So, they gathered in the space between spaces and Void pointed to the far reaches. There was something there, pressing against the boundary from the other side. At the time he had no idea what it wanted. None of them did. So, they took a closer look… and it nearly ended them and everything they knew.
Void shook that memory from his head. This was all Aine’s fault! Her and her stupid game! Ever since they broke her favorite toy and she had ranted and raved about having to start over. They had agreed to the new rules, but it became clear she had no intention of honoring them. He corrupted her first children after she gave the extraordinary gift of souls to so many of her little playthings. Samael had gone along with it because he got to add the new souls to his collection. Aine stopped his fun when she sealed her elemental children away.
After that, battle lines had been drawn. With Harmony firmly planted in Aine’s corner and Samael more concerned with keeping the cosmic flow moving properly that only left the twins on the fence and they NEVER pick sides on anything. All they ever seemed to do is observe and record everything. How boring! Thus, Void was left to play the game against Aine alone. He went about his work while continued to nurture her latest mortals. Void, in turn, created what he considered his greatest achievement. Grogar.
Now there was a monster among monsters. He did excellent work spreading destruction and chaos. The rivers ran red with blood of innocents as he sowed fear and sorrow all within the bounds of the rules Aine had set. Grogar was soon followed by the Umbra, nasty little things that left their victims emotionless husks. Not too different than changelings, which he had nothing to do with. They evolved all on their own to feed on the excess love and harmony that had been flowing through the world. And then his once personal favorite came to be, Discord.
The draconequus was modeled in his very image. A chaotic creature that instilled fear and confusion just by the very sight of him. Discord was meant to be his herald. A being that had the power to turn the world inside out by tapping directly to the source of chaos magic. He would break all the rules that Void was not allowed to, circumventing the game and plunging all of existence into glorious madness. Aine would have no choice but to cull her precious mortals or watch them tear their own eyes out, scream until their throats were bloody, and take their own lives. Void assumed Samael would be pleased because he would have so many new souls for his collection. But that was not what happened. Not even close.
The thought of his last son caused Void’s anger to boil. It was bad enough that Harmony had sacrificed herself to spread her protective power across the land and help Aine’s mortal brats turn him to stone, but then he later joined them! He chose… love and harmony! Over his own carefully crafted nature! For a mere mortal pegasus! Void had even given his son a companion in Cosmos, but that had still not been enough. How ungrateful.
Then, the biggest rule breaker of them all made herself known. Sunset Shimmer. He had not realized at first what she was. Her true nature carefully hidden beneath a façade of a simple mortal unicorn. What she was, however, was a magically hardened construct creation whose nature bridged two separate but parallel dimensions. Had he been paying closer attention he would have destroyed her when she was still weak. On second thought, he should have killed Celestia and Luna when they were still young instead. A mistake for sure. Hindsight.
He had admired Aine’s boldness at the time. Pretending to be mortal so as to sire two new children as a means of removing herself further from the game, thus limiting his own power moves. That was a stroke of genius and had laid the groundwork for the Incarnate. Aine had envisioned a perfect guardian that would stand as sword and shield in her absence. She had quietly passed on the means in which to create the alicorn golem to the mortals who had written it all down. Since it was to be done by mortal hooves and horns it was well within the rules and there was nothing Void could do directly. That had been difficult enough, especially after Discord's inprisonment.
Then, Celestia changed the formula.
As only a mortal demigod, Celestia had not been aware of ‘the game’ at all. But Aine must have known. She must have! Or Belldandy. As the avatar of Destiny she always had her little fingers all over the threads. Never letting on what she was seeing. She was blind to the world around her because what she could see was beyond all of them.
Void snorted in disgust. In the end it did not matter. He had had all of them cornered. The Athanatoi had broken free from their prisons and they were still his playthings. He was about to win fair and square! And then… Aine directly interfered. While that had been annoying it also meant that he could assert a level of directness as well and his sister’s back was turned! It was the perfect opening! If Samael had helped it would have been over in a snap! No more perfect little world. Aine would have to start over again and he could laugh about it the whole time. About how he won!
Instead.
The demigod Luna and the Ignis Ferrum Incarnate killed Samael. Or if not dead than reduced to be no better than Harmony's fractured state. A broken shell of his former self, castrated and shackled to do Luna’s will. It was an insult to him and his sibling. It was a travesty! It was… the end of the game, but not how it should be. He had them! He was going to win!
Void snarled at nothing, the In Between bending and stewing as it always did.
If it was game over then it would be on his terms. He would get the last move and the last laugh. Void turned to his prisoner, still wrapped completely in barbed chains. He could destroy Discord with a thought or a snap of his claw, rendering him nothing more than ethereal atoms. No. That would be too easy and too good for him. He had betrayed all that he was for THEM. Then he could die with them.
Void turned his back, allowing the chains to slacken. He had no desire to continue the dance and no patience to the tiny god's witty retorts. Void snorted one last time at his son and flew away. If the broken draconequus had the strength to flee then so be it. If not, other predators would deal with him. Void did not care either way. He instead turned his attention to the place that even he was cautious about and disappeared.
One would not expect a place such as the In Between to have an edge, but even as it expanded beyond what one could fathom there was in fact a place it ended. Or began. Once again, perspective. As before, Void could feel something pulling at him just beyond. This one, whatever it was, was especially strong. It would do nicely.
Without hesitation, Void began weaving his spells, gathering loose magic about to create what could only be described as a magical breacher charge. He would need to make sure he was far away when it exploded. There was no way to know where it would emerge once he blew a hole into reality. That could mean he would have to wait, possibly centuries for it to do… Honestly, he was not even entirely sure it would do anything. Other than consume. That much he was certain of. He could FEEL its hunger.
The massive glowing ball that had formed between Void’s hoof and claw was reaching critical mass. He set it close to the edge and it physically hurt as whatever it was on the other side pressed in. It could feel the magic. It wanted it. BADLY.
Void smirked a toothy grin and fled.
He turned back after the magic tore open the space and another explosion led… something into the world. Even though it was only in the In Between for a few seconds Void felt it’s presence. It was massive and it had consumed all the ambient power that had been nearby. Once it was through Void quickly sealed the two rifts so that nothing else could spill forth and it could not come back the way it came.
He turned his eyes next to another pocket dimension. A sacred place that observed their living reality. He needed to know what the threads said and the twins were going to tell him whether they wanted to or not. The endgame was in motion, the die had been cast. Time to see the results.
----------
Twilight Sparkle had seen far too much violence and death in her lifetime. And she was not even one hundred and fifty years old yet. Longer than the average pony, but not even close to the age Celestia and Luna had lived. Of course, they were both now gone. Was that all there was to being an alicorn? Watching friends move on and having to suffer through pain and violence day after day? Year after year? What was the point of it all?! Why struggle, why fight back when there was just another fight around the corner? It was all just so damn… PAINFUL!
Twilight felt breath on her ear, a warm wing wrapped around her back, and the familiar soothing energy of love and empathy flowed into sparks of magic, zapping lightly at her horn. The energy spread through her body quickly, slowing her racing heart and pulling her swiftly out of the nosedive panic attack that had tried to take over. The world came back into focus. There was a beautiful muzzle right next to hers.
“Hey.” Twilight turned to her left and instead of falling into pain and despair she fell into two gorgeous teal orbs that were looking only at her. “I’m right here. Just focus on me.”
“I’m,” Twilight swallow and nodded. “I’m okay. Thank you. I… I just need a second.”
“Take your time. I’m right here with you.”
Twilight nuzzled her wife and happily kissed her. She did not care if it made the others blush or feel as if they were intruding. She needed to feel those lips. She needed to taste that sweet familiarity and comfortable sensation, drink from the warmth and certainty. “Thank you, Sunny.”
“Twilight? Princess? I can’t see you. What is going on?”
Twilight took the SunLight crystal back in her magic, her magenta aura mixing perfectly with Sunset’s red. She always loved the feeling of their magic mixing. It was symbiotic. Sunset’s magic, much like the pony herself, was warm and powerful, but not overbearing even if she could easily do so. Sunset had described Twilight's aura as cool, like a breeze on a hot day. Stable and strong, her spell matrix was absolute perfection. When the two auras met, neither overpowered the other and instead they flowed around and weaved together, strengthening their unified grasp. Harmonious.
“I’m here, Isa. I just needed a moment to gather myself.” Twilight’s eyes met each individual in the room one by one before settling on the draconequus on his cushions. Discords expression was neutral, but underneath it all Twilight knew he was still scared. They had bigger fights to deal with. The issue with Saddle Arabia needed to be faced head on and resolved quickly. “Isa, I want you to inform both captains of the situation and tell them to begin forming a plan of logistics required to defend our land and possible points of setting up forward camps. Have them reach out to every guard station to get the latest updates on militia readiness across all of Equestria as well, but primarily focus on our east coast. Then, I want you on the first train or airship you can get to the Crystal Empire.”
“I understand the situation is dire, but is it wise to leave Canterlot in the hooves of just the nobility?”
“A calculated risk. Besides, you can always remind them who my wife is and how it would GREATLY displease her if they were to try and take advantage of our absence. I’ll call Spike myself. He needs to hear this from me, plus, I want to talk with him and hear how Grunt is doing.”
“Understood. I will make the necessary preparations. I can get a train that will pass through Ponyville on its way to the north line. That should not delay my arrival by more than a day.”
Twilight ended the call and passed the crystal back to Fire Sapphire. “Cadence, I want you to contact the sultan right now. Not his staff, not the grand vizier, Sultan Al Hisan Ealia himself. Tell him that we will be holding an emergency summit for PEACE TALKS and emphasize that. They will take place in exactly one week from today, in the Hall of Unity on Mount Metazoa as it is a treaty recognized neutral ground for such undertakings, and that he needs to come himself or send the grand vizier immediately. If they refuse, then we can only assume they prefer war and…”
“And that would be unfortunate… for everypony,” Sunset finished.
Twilight nodded and nuzzled Sunset again. “Yes, thank you.”
Cadence stood and pointed to the door. Fire Sapphire opened it and waited for her empress. “I’ll get right on it.” She paused and gave in, decorum be damned. Cadence ran back to Twilight and Sunset and pulled both of them into a group hug. Cadence smiled even more and felt warmth explode in her heart when Flurry Heart’s massive light pink wings wrapped around nearly the entire cuddle pile. All four alicorns were practically glowing with love and friendship.
“Oh, don’t mind me, I’m just choking on my own saccharine flavored vomit over here. Bleh.”
Cadence’s horn lit up and a brown paper bag popped into existence next to Discord. “I keep a ready supply of emergency vomit bags all throughout the palace.”
Sunset arched a brow at her cousin. It was just too odd. She had to ask. “Uh, why?”
Cadence smirked. “Many reasons. We can talk about it later.”
With nothing else to add to that fact Cadence excused herself and set to work. The three remaining alicorns glanced at one another.
“Sooooo,” Flurry Heart began, “what do we do in the mean time?”
Twilight shuffled about. Sunset saw the worried pout on her face and knew exactly what needed to happen. She nudged Twilight with her wing and smiled warm and lovingly when her wife finally looked up. “Hey, how about we do that history tour you mentioned.”
“Are you sure? I mean, we may need to start planning for a… war, soon. Logistics, possible field hospitals, talks with surrounding nations to ensure sovereignty is honored and so on. We should definitely inform the other ambassadors or leaders what is happening. They may want to attend a summit since a war would affect them as well. And, of course, I need to call Spike, I need my number one assistant and chief diplomat for something like this.”
“Okay, yeah, that all makes sense. But how about you and I take a breather for an hour or two and relax, recenter, and then start on those calls. As of right now, we don’t have the necessary information to form a single list of what to do next and other than some strategy games I dabbled in I have no idea how to plan for a war. So, let’s go do something for us and hopefully Cadence will have some good news for everypony when we get back. I mean, this is supposed to be our honeymoon, remember?”
Twilight only hesitated a moment longer. The encouraging smile and nod from Flurry Heart help solidify the notion and return much of Twilight’s confidence. The purple alicorn smiled brightly and it felt like the whole world was just a little bit brighter for it.
“Okay, right. A small distraction will definitely clear my head of the rain clouds, let’s go.”
Sunset followed Twilight out. Raven was a few steps behind. Flurry Heart was glad to see her Aunt Twilight so happy even if only for the moment. No pony or creature in the world deserved it more. Of course… that left her with…
“Oh, pardon me, Princess Flurry Heart,” Discord said with an extra helping of pathetic pleading. “Could I trouble you for a teensy, weensy glass of water?”
“Ugh! Seriously? How did I end up with the short straw?”
----------
Isabella Windsong considered herself to be pretty calm and efficient under pressure. One had to be to work for the royals, alongside the nobility, and in Canterlot social circles in general. Still, she was aware that sometimes, all those thoughts, concerns, and pressing matters created a nervous tick. For Isabella, it was tapping her left claw on things. Sometimes tables, other times her own thighs. It was a bad habit and she had to fight it when she was engaged with others, but alone, tap, tap, tap away.
“Hey,” Isabella glanced up from the table she was sitting at. “I got your message.”
“As did I.”
Tempest turned to find her husband approaching from the opposite direction. He was normally sleeping at this time of day unless there were drills to run. The couple took a moment to nuzzle one another, unconcerned by the PDA. The sight of it brought a small smile to Isabella’s face before she coughed and returned to her professional demeanor.
“Thank you. Now, I’m just waiting on…”
Captain Walnut came to a trotting stop. He immediately saluted the other two guards. Tempest rolled her eyes, but returned the gesture. “You outrank me now, Walnut. I’m supposed to salute you, remember?”
“You saved all our lives, Commander. I will salute you till the day I die as a thank you for that, Ma’am.”
Tempest glanced to Gauge to see if he would comment. Naturally, he just shrugged. The vermilion mare just sighed. “Right. Anyhow, what’s this all about that you needed all of us here?”
Isabella glanced about to make sure they were out of earshot of any passing citizens. Even still she gestured for them to sit and come close. “I need to leave for the Crystal Empire soon. It is highly likely that I will be working to help try and stop a war between Equestria and Saddle Arabia.”
Gauge hissed, Tempest growled, Walnut had to bite his hoof to swallow his scream of ‘WHAT?!”
“We received a correspondence this morning stating that one of the princesses had to surrender to the sultan’s demand of a marriage to his son and bear a foal or… to surrender for execution as retribution. Otherwise, open war.”
“They would dare be so bold? This is foolish beyond all comparison,” said Gauge, before he hissed again.
“There has to be more to this. Why are they so bent on getting a foal from one of our princesses? Do they not understand how many would die in open war? I would bet a new fifty bit coin that we are missing context here,” said Tempest, the frown never leaving her face.
“I do not know, but I will ask. Regardless, I was ordered by Twilight to inform both captains and that you two need to begin contacting all our outposts for the most recent local militia readiness reports. We will also need updates on weapons stocks, armor, field rations, overall general readiness kits for deployment. There is a good chance that while we are speaking to the Saddle Arabians, if we engage in a dialogue at all, that they are already preparing their forces. We must not be caught flat hooved.”
“We need costal air patrols, tightening of customs stations, and to keep a sharp ear out at all ports for chatter. I guess this takes priority over anything else for the next several days.”
Isabella nodded to Walnut. “Absolutely top priority. This comes from the princesses themselves. You know how Twilight is about her lists.” All three ponies nodded.
“Okay, so, that explains why you needed to see them urgently. Why am I here?” asked Tempest.
Isabella did not bother to try and hide her guilty and slightly apologetic face. “I know it is short notice, but I would like you to accompany me to the Empire.”
Tempest was obviously surprised and taken aback by the request. “Me? If you are looking for a bodyguard we have plenty of fresh, young guards that would do well at keeping you safe on your trip. I can name at least five privates that finished training recently with high marks. One is even a hippogriff if you are looking for a low profile guard.”
Isabella nodded. “I am aware of whom I have available, but I want you. I want your extensive military experience and expertise as an advisor. I want your physical, intimidating presence and confidence when you walk into a room so they know you are not just window dressing. I want… I want them to see how even an injured guard pony is still a force to be reckoned with and that maybe they will think twice if words fail to convince.”
“That is… really manipulative, Isabella.”
“I know, but I’m scared by all of this. I’m just trying to feel less so.”
Tempest turned to her husband, doubt and hesitation in her eyes. He nodded, adamantly and without waiver. Gauge knew what she was going to attempt to counter him with. He knew Tempest was going to say the school needs her or that the foals need looking after, especially if he was going to be busy. They were both excuses and he was prepared to go to combat against her, word-wise, if need be. Fog Gauge needed his wife to feel confident in herself again. She needed it as well.
After nearly a minute of silently sparring back and forth with hard eye contact and subtle facial gestures Tempest relented and sighed saying, “Fine. Let me pack a go bag and say goodbye to my kids.”
“Of course, meet me at the train station in one hour. We will likely be staying overnight in Ponyville before heading north. If that changes your packing needs.”
Isabella got up and began to make her own preparations. Tempest sighed again, her hoof reaching up to her helm and broken horn.
“Don’t.”
She narrowed her jade eyes at her husband. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t let it stop you. Our friends need your help and need your razor sharp soldiering talents. You can do this, my love, and I think you need this.”
“Pfft.”
“Scoff if you like, but we both know the truth." Gauge narrowed his yellow eyes at her, slightly flashing his fangs at her. "You feel like you have lost your edge as a soldier and a leader. While your new position is an important one and I am a tiny bit jealous you get to spend more time with our foals, we both know deep down you really enjoyed being solar captain. It was your calling and you miss it terribly.”
Tempest groaned, punched her husband gently in the shoulder pad, and then kissed him. “I hate you. How the heck did you learn to read me so well? I used to unreadable to the point no pony wanted to play cards with me even before I made captain.”
Gauge's face split in a wide, flirtatious smirk. “I will admit my guilty pleasure of enjoying to look at you every moment I have a chance. I always have. Even before we were married I watched your every movement and listened intently to your every word. When we sparred, I knew you were the only one who could beat me because you never held back and often I was too busy and distracted just admiring you. I wanted your strength and beauty forever locked in my mind so that I can see you clearly when I close my eyes. I still do. Every muscle, every curve, every contour of your face. All of you… especially your gorgeous rump.”
“Pervert.”
“I blame Sunset Shimmer.”
“Suuuure, go for the easy excuse.”
Gauge smiled and chuckled, moving to nuzzle Tempest once more. “I love you.”
Tempest kissed her husband again, and for the first time in more than a month, it felt genuine and tingled all the way to the tips of her hooves like it should. “I love you too.”
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Mdaa, Void is on the list of villains created by the community, by the way, it includes: Thanos, Amun, Davot, and now Void.
The Void turned out to be the creator of both the Cosmos and Grogar, which was to be expected from him, because Discord and Datura could not only be his servants.
Along the way, the games are over, and now it's time to rebuild for everyone, although Void correctly thinks that someone may be above them and is watching them himself.
And Aine, that's how Celestia and the Moon appeared, just like in my story, something similar with my Sunset, in my Equestria. Aine creates other worlds, only she creates them inside this universe, and there have already been other worlds that have been covered with a copper basin. Won't it happen that one day she will become more dangerous than the Void, and something will happen to her that happened to her brother in another universe:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stD0h1gAVz8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzXBWSTQJYk
You should understand that in every universe Discord, alicorns, worlds after death, Umbrums, Grogars, etc. appear in their own way. For example, in one of the Equestria universes, life was created with a Marker from Dead Space. True, there are things that are constant, for example, Sunset is everywhere, like a pain in the ass of the higher powers of the Stargate or Warhammer. I have already presented a complete collection of different Sunsets telling stories, one of which is more amazing than the other.
As for universes, an approximate structure of universes can be found in Ninja Turtles 2003. Thanks to them, I roughly understood how the Universe works:
There are different versions of one world, but each of this world has inner worlds that also have analogues in your other worlds, in this case there are different Equestrias, Mirror Equestrias and a multicolored human world, but anyone can be there: Undertale, Mass Effect, Stargate, Starcraft, Babylon 5 and so on.
So, according to the plot, I realized that the Void left the inner universe and went to a new version of Equestria, but he wanted to get out so much that he probably forgot what he could let in, what passed into This Equestria, one Xel-naga knows and what kind of rustle the Void will be transported to another Equestria and you will surprised by another Discord that appeared in a different way.
And then the question is asked: did Datura and Clover travel all this time inside the universe, or were they able to leave the boundaries of their universe and were in other universes, for example Babylon 5 (hello Mr. Morden).
As for Arabia, if there is a war, she will get it, the sultan thinks to intimidate Sunset, who: survived 2 personality erasures, 3 close deaths, the death of her first wife, the death of friends, the death of Celestia, killed her fallen father, lost her aunt, fought with Athanatoi and threatened two Gods directly. I couldn't scare her with such a list, and Equestria is still on edge after the Datura incident, and at the same time, the Crystal Empire will definitely help in the war, because it seems to me that Arabia will not retreat until a baby is born or the head of one of the alicorns is on a platter, which means that the war will continue until Sultan or Sunset die, and the list of deaths from Sunset will soon be replenished.
However, if it wasn't Emptiness that brainwashed the sultan, then one explanation remains - this guy is a FUCKING DEGENERATE! He thinks Equestria is the same as with Celestia, he's completely fucked up. Of course, Equestria didn't want deaths, but the future blood is on his hooves, not on anyone else's, he started it, and Sunset will finish it. However, it is curious why they insist so much on the child, that before the Datura, that now, when he still has another son and the dynasty will not be interrupted, and declaring a war of annihilation, he signs a death sentence for everyone, or he adheres to the words - when leaving, extinguish everyone.
P.S. I'm sorry for the big comment, but I expressed all my thoughts without hiding, because that's what you wanted, the Element of Honesty.
Cadance, I know you're pink and all, but what are you, Pinkie Pie?
Hmm, curious to know why the Saddle Arabians want an alicorn specifically for the perfect foal. I mean, alicorn nature is earned (and given by those who know the spell), not inherited.
For all the honour and (practically) worship the Saddle Arabians give to the sun and moon and their keepers, they're pretty disrespectful just by their demands.
Well, I guess we now know where Discord gets his stupid from. Void seems to have just allowed a cosmic Tirek in. Wonder if he is going to find himself nibbled on before this is over?
If this is going to way I think, some prophecy or something that needs a foal from the mix of princess and Saddle Arabian to save them, then the Sultan really needs to work on his communication skills
11351048
There was no question of some kind of prophecy (left by the Ancients), here the sultan's pride and grief play more and because of this he and Arabia will lie down with a copper basin.
But Void really let someone in - he wanted to get out so much that he forgot who he could let in. And then everyone will have to unite, even the Gods.
So Void's unleashed something form beyond the wall into Equs? How, delightfully diabolical. I suspect this will end badly for everyone. Yay!
11351356
Well, yes, I let in creatures of the Third Space or even worse, but in any case, it seems to me that this Equestria will beg that Void remains the villain, and not something worse.
11350623
The way to try an imagine what the universe(s) look like and out they interact is imagine a sphere in the center and it is surrounded by facets, many, many facets, like flower petals around the center. That sphere is the In Between where all the different realities and possibilities interact. When a dimension collapses for one reason or another it is absorbed by the In Between and other facets move to fill the space. Magic moves through all the facets like a vascular system. On the outside of that expansion is the Outside. No one really knows what's out there other than some things there push in trying to get a taste of all that energy flowing about.
11350749
I will say that the Saddle Arabians are betting on a huge amount of assumption, but they have what they consider their reasons and that will be revealed at the peace talks soon.
11351048
As a folklore style trickster Discord makes many mistakes that often become learning lessons. Plus, he is more of an act before you think sort of guy.
11351356
*sings* It's the End of the world as we know it!* Yeah, Void pulled a Cartman and said, "Screw your guys, I'm going home."
11351457
I mean, technically they were threatening war before Datura's little killing spree, but the prince's death escalated things.
Did Void just let in a Langolier?
Commander Tempest is back!
Curious if we will see Twilight and Sunset fight together at some point? The two working in unison would be deadly I think.
11351970
11351984
Does the Sultan want to get several of his provinces annexed? Because that's how he gets several of his provinces annexed.
11351968
You know, when Void left the inner universe and missed something, it reminded me of a case that had already been in Babylon 5, and then the catostrophe was stopped with difficulty. If something like this happens here, then what Sunset, Twilight, and Equestria went through, it will be something compared to what they will face next.
As for your explanation about the universes, something reminded me of the Marvel movie - Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness, the scheme is similar. And magic is rather some kind of special energy from the subspace, which, going out into normal space through ley lines, is acquired by creatures, and any creature was not, magic will be different.
And the Sultan is either a degenerate or does not know how to conduct diplomacy, because what he said was about declaring war. If he forgot, then not only his son died, but the rest of the citizens of Equestria (you can console yourself that this bitch is suffering in Hell) and because of this grief, like an idiot, he wants to send his son and his people after him, like sheep to the slaughter.