Chapter 25: Sound of Silence
Sunset Shimmer shook her head, but smiled anyhow. They had an entire city-state they could visit. They had their choice of ANY hotel or they could have just stayed in the finest ambassadorial suite in the Crystal Castle itself. It was their honeymoon after all. And yet, she felt perfectly fine crashing in the library again. It felt right in a time where so few things were apparently going right. And, of course, it made Twilight Sparkle happy. That was the most important thing at the moment.
The library had closed, the guards had been posted, and Raven was once again seeing to their sleeping arrangements while they picked out books. Twilight had a large stack. She had a spell that allowed her to read three at a time and comprehend them just fine. Sunset, however, was still browsing. She had an idea of what she was looking for, but was not sure if even the magnificent crystal library had the right tomes.
“If you are having trouble finding something you like I pulled a bestiary of known wildlife around the empire all the way to Yaktakistan. Apparently, there were packs of yeti in the northern mountains a thousand years ago.” Twilight tapped her chin gently. “I wonder if they ever encountered Aethon’s prison and chose to migrate to other lands because of it.”
“From the way Flurry had described the thing I would have run like hell too." Sunset shook her head and smiled back at Twilight. "I know what I’m interested in researching for the evening I just don’t know if they have any books on it here. Crystal ponies have more in common with southern earth ponies than they do with unicorns and this topic falls more into the magic-side of things. Though I suppose it could fall under alchemy or potion making now that I think about it out loud. One of the reasons I’m cross referencing. I want to compare and contrast all the possibilities.”
“Oh? Tell me the topic, we can both look.”
Much to Twilight’s surprise, Sunset hesitated and scratched at her opposing forelegs in an unusual display of anxious nervousness. It was a rare thing to see her powerful wife turn inward with a bit of awkward timidness. It all just made Twilight that much more curious. “I… kind of wanted it to be a surprise. Although, I’ll needed to discuss it with you at some point. Given what lies ahead, I guess no time like the present, right? Sooooo….”
“Yes?”
“I wanted to find books on… how a mare can get another mare pregnant.”
Twilight dropped all the books that were floating in her magic. She stared wide eyed, slack jawed at Sunset Shimmer. She did not even blink for what felt like far too long. Sunset felt a need to wave her hoof in front of Twilight’s face just to force her brain to restart.
“Are… are you serious?”
Sunset smiled sheepishly and blushed profusely. “I’m hesitant to commit to anything without more information, you know, I need to be sure. But… I have listened to your hints and occasional clues that you have dropped ever since we became a couple. I have my reservations about it as you have heard me say, but I know you have dreamed about being a mom for a long time. I just want to see what are the chances it can be done, how successful such spells are, what kind of magic or potions are required, the side effects, and the risks. We're alicorns. Things that worked for just a couple of regular mares may not work on us, well more specifically, you. Better to have all the facts before even thinking about getting serious, right?”
Twilight’s eyes began to glass over. She set her quivering jaw and dove tackled Sunset Shimmer to the floor and pressed her lips to her wife’s hard, sloppy, and passionately. Sunset ignored the bump on the back of her head in favor of enjoying the moment and Twilight’s exploring tongue. They stayed that way for quite some time. Raven went from standing to sitting and then eventually began reviewing some of her gathered information to properly store and label her files. Anything to not just simply stare at the two mares making out in the middle of the library. It was not that she was embarrassed or felt guilt or shame. She had already seen the two of them have sex... as ponies and humans for that matter! Now it was just boring unless they were going to spice it up. If that was the case, she might take pictures for review later.
“Yes, before you even ask, YES! I absolutely still want this.”
Sunset smiled before her lip curled down a bit. “I know, but beyond the physical risks and any number of possible side effect concerns there are also the facts that any foal of ours will likely be only a unicorn and mortal. We… we would outlive them. Do you understand?”
“I know, and I know that you know. We saw your great grandson in the human world. I too am more than familiar with how painful it is to bury family and loved ones. I have considered that and I still want this.”
Sunset smiled, relief washing over her anxiety like a cleansing rain. “I didn’t want to be a downer, Twily. I just feel like I have to speak from both my heart and my head about this topic. It is absolutely wonderful to give the gift of life. But it changes everything and… it hurts so, so damn much to have to say goodbye to them. Worse than saying goodbye to a friend or… a spouse.”
Twilight turned her eyes to the skylight. The brightest stars already beginning to shine through the near constant aurora in the imperial night sky. The lights generated by the crystal heart and the love poured into it could bee see all over Equestria at times, but was always seen here in the empire. A constant reminder of the true power of the crystal ponies.
“I understand and thank you for trying to remain objective on a subject so close to my heart and desire. The fact that you are trying to find as much information as possible shows how much you care and I love you all the more for it. But, neither of us are blushing fillies anymore.”
Sunset’s grin turned wicked and Twilight felt a rush of fluster even before her wife said in a low, lusty voice, “Oh yeah? So, you wanna swallow some hot dragon cum?”
Twilight sputtered and blushed, her train of thought completely derailed at the lewd statement. “W-what?!”
Sunset, still lying on her back, rolled over onto her side not just laughing, but all out cackling. “Made you blush.”
“You are incorrigible!” Twilight shook her head and joined in the laughing. She threw herself upon Sunset and nuzzled her while they rode out their giggle fits. When it subsided, Twilight sighed. The smile turning far more melancholy. “It always hurts to lose friends and family. No matter how many we have to bury, they will always have a place in my heart. But I have so much love and knowledge yet to give and share. I want to share it all with you and my students. I want to share it with all the creatures who cherish what we hold so dear. And… I want to feel that life inside me. Created by the mare that I love with all my heart.”
Sunset stroked Twilight’s face and the purple alicorn pressed into the warm, sensual touch. “It is amazing, like nothing else. To feel a life growing inside you. You feel those kicks and then they press that sonogram to your belly and you hear it for the first time. That little heart beating away just as fast as can be. I'll admit, I’m scared to go through it all again, but for you, because I love you and I know you want this. I will.”
Twilight smiled so brightly even as a few tears fell from her eyes. “Thank you, Sunny. Thank you for wanting to do this for me. Well, with that firmly settled I can safely say, you are correct. There are a few different methods and choices of making this less common means of fertilization possible and we should examine them all and see which would work best for us.”
Sunset chuckled. “I feel a list coming on.”
Twilight, on cue, produced a sheet of parchment and a quill. “Of course!”
The two mares giggled like fillies, falling into one another again, nuzzling and kissing. Raven, quietly standing off to the side smiled before cocking her head slightly to the side.
“We are not in Canterlot. Where does she keep summoning this paper from?”
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Luna had a complicated relationship with outer space. Space was where the stars resided. Space was where her moon orbited the planet. Space was so much like the stardust path she walked for so long in the land of dreams. There was a comfortable familiarity to it. Like a favorite blanket that one kept even after you outgrew it.
Her first real experience with exoplanetary space had not been a pleasant one, having been blasted out of the atmosphere by the Elements of Harmony straight into the moon where she was left for a thousand years. While the majority of her time in her prison had been in a meditative, hibernation slumber she did awaken more than once. It is a shock to the system, even to a powerful magical creature, to find yourself with scant any air and little to no gravity all about you. There is a powerful beauty to that vast blackness and deafening silence. But much like a superbly crafted sword or a beautiful predatory creature, that beauty can also be dangerous.
When the three alicorns exited their teleport Luna accidentally gasped at nothing. She discovered something new and specific about her new immortal alicorn form. Though she was now a true goddess she could still feel pain and trying to suck in air where there was absolutely none hurt. A lot. Through clenched teeth and furrowed brow, she formed a bubble around herself much like she had done not long ago when she had traveled to visit Aine.
After shaking her head Luna realized that Chaz was trying to say something, but she could not hear him. With a little applied magic she pulled the twins into her bubble, canceling their own shields.
“You will have to repeat yourself, I am afraid.”
“I was asking if you were alright. You seemed distressed for a moment there.”
“I am still getting used to what I can and cannot do given my new role and form. This reformed and strangely shaped body threw my center of balance off and I gasped. A foolish thing to do in space. If I may, why do you both prefer to appear so… human?”
“Human?” asked Belldandy arching a brow.
“My niece, Sunset Shimmer, as you know spent many years in another dimension. I have seen pictures of how the mirror transmuted her body from that of a pony to a bipedal creature of proportions quite similar to what we currently appear as. Except that they prefer to remain clothed at all times. Something I noticed you both forego. She said the advanced primate species called themselves humans.” The twins examined their fur covered bodies, wings, and swishing tails. The lack of garments having no effect on them. Eventually they both shrugged. It seemed a silly gesture considering one was blind. Or so she claimed.
“As true alicorns, we have the power to look like whatever we feel like,” said Belldandy flexing her hands. “When we first began working with the loom and threads it was difficult to work with only hooves. We had magic and our horns, but, well I can’t recall at what exact moment it was, but I remember reaching out and my hoof reformed into a hand. I could feel the threads in a way I had not imagined before. Hands are soft compared to hooves. I gained new tactile insight. I found It easier to pull and manipulate the threads this way than by magic alone. Over time, my body reshaped to better accommodate how I was standing before the spools. I had no idea there was a term for such physical changes.”
“For me, as she changed, so did I. Balance and all that,” said Chaz with a shrug.
Luna nodded and returned her attention to the endless blackness of space. The stars were numerous here, but depending on where one stood the opaque sky still felt empty of sorts. They were far from their home now. Luna was not sure how far, but she only knew the direction by that little tug on her heart like a string from a ball of twine reminding her where she had started. The magic that flowed throughout the cosmos was not as plentiful here as it was in the middle. Her throat felt dry, parched, she wondered if the twins felt the same, but did not ask. With nothing else to add to the previous conversation Luna focused on the task before them.
“That direction. Do you feel it?”
Chaz and Belldandy turned, reaching out with their magical senses. There was an ambiance of magic everywhere in the universe. The ley lines of power stretched out unseen to every corner of existence and beyond. But what Luna was feeling was a hollow pit where the magic was simply gone… as if drained, consumed. Before either mare could warn him not to, Chaz extended his reach towards the hollow, his power pulsing like a flare beacon in the middle of the night. The dark gray alicorn felt something latch on to his magic like a steel trap and yanked. Belldandy tried to reach for his arm or leg, but missed.
“CHAZ!”
Luna looped her arm under Belldandy’s and took flight. He was easy to follow given his flailing, but his screams were eerily silent in the vacuum of space. What was making it difficult to catch Chaz was the speed in which he was being pulled towards the disturbance. Luna reached out with her free hand, but he was still just out of reach. She could feel all manner of space debris bouncing off her shield preventing her from getting a good look at what was reeling him in.
Belldandy could not see, but she could feel her brother’s power and took the risk of latching her own magic onto him. A kinetic whip of energy wrapped around Chaz’s waist and the two mares pulled back against the suction. Their wings beat and frantically and horns were glowing with spent power. After a minute of slowing, eventually they pulled Chaz back towards them and into the safety of Luna’s shield bubble.
Chaz gasped and gingerly touched the end of his horn that was glowing and smoking as if from overuse. “Stars above! It felt like my insides were being sucked out through my horn!”
While the pull had ceased as they had drawn down their magic, Luna was finding it difficult to back away from that looming pit. They were much closer to it than she was comfortable with. Luna gestured for Chaz to interlock with her right arm as Belldandy was still on her left. The three began to retreat carefully with the power of their wings in a backstroke motion so as to not turn their backs to the anomaly. After several tense minutes it was safe to say it was working, Luna concluded. They were once again gaining some distance. Until Chaz used his free hand to apply some magic healing to some cuts he had sustained while colliding with bits of space debris.
Chaz’s right arm was yanked hard enough that he felt the shoulder socket dislocate. The alicorn stallion screamed and released his spell but they had already been yanked back all the distance they had gained since Luna refused to let go.
“It is attracted to our magic!” Luna concluded. “The stronger the spells the harder it pulls!” Now that they were closer, Luna felt the creature latch onto her passive shield. “Take a deep breath!” The twins did so and Luna let her shield go. She felt the power literally ripped from her like how Celestia used to steal the bed sheet when she overslept. The three once again slowly and carefully flapped their wings, using only the barest of power to generate movement. Luna did not dare blink… until she made out several sets of massive glowing eyes against the blackness. Though she could not see the maw, she felt the breath pass over them like a warm furnace blast with lingering scents of rot and foulness. It did not tickle her nose so much as it made her horn throb painfully all the way through her skull and set all her magical senses on fire. It was hunting them, it wanted more, and they were far too close for comfort.
Chaz had thought being struck by Void had hurt. His brother had drawn blood. But this thing had hurt him in a way he did not know he could be hurt. Last time they had fought and killed an omega beast it had been difficult, but it had been all six of them and that one had been relatively small in comparison. There was not enough ambient light about for him to gauge how large the thing was, but by disruptive sensation alone he knew it was huge.
Thoughts of that battle long ago returned to the forefront of his mind. Chaz recalled that Aine and Samael used their opposing powers to detonate along the creature while Harmony and Void harassed and he and Belldandy ran interference. Eventually they were able to wear it down enough to crush it down to atoms. Chaz had doubts such a tactic would work for this one. Especially if they could not get away. They needed a distraction.
Without the bubble they could not speak, but Chaz had a plan. Not a good plan, but at least something. The warm gray alicorn formed a small ball of power in his free hand. He felt Luna squeeze hard into his side as a means of saying, ‘What the heck are you doing?!’ The creature passing over them shifted at the new scent of magic. The ball gathered power and the moment he felt his arm about to be a fish on a hook again he willed the ball to launch away from them. The creature immediately gave chase.
Once Luna was certain they had a chance, she touched her horn to theirs and triggered a teleport. They took turns teleporting until they were certain they were well out of range of the omega beast's pull. Eventually, they found a chunk of rock and crashed on it to recuperate their spent power. Even as immortal alicorns their power was not infinite and they needed to rest.
Belldandy crawled over to her brother, feeling about blindly until her hand was taken in his. She reached out with her other hand and cupped his face, gently stroking his cheek. Before he could respond she pulled him into a tight hug until he winced.
“You’re hurt!”
“It’s just a dis- *CRACK* GAAAH!!”
Belldandy reset the joint manually so as to not expend any more magical energy. Once she was satisfied, Belldandy smacked Chaz several times in said injured shoulder earning more painful yelps.
“What were you thinking?! You could have gotten us all killed!”
“I had to do something! Neither of you were doing anything but trying to flutter flap your wings to get away from it. That would have never worked. You didn’t see the size of that thing! Consider yourself lucky!”
Belldandy scowled at him. “Yes, I did. Or at least I could see the ambience of all the power being drawn into it like a messy corona. It was… horrifying.”
Luna nodded, wiping her robe sleeve across her forehead. Much to her surprise, it was sweaty. She was more exhausted than she realized. "It appears that in the presence of such a beast we become so thoroughly drained that our bodies become more vulnerable. Useful knowledge if albeit terrifying.
“Sooooo,” Chaz finally said, after a long moment of silence, “what do we do now?”
Luna finally stood and offered a hand to each of them, which they took. “We must return home to warn Sunset, Twilight, and the others. If Void led that creature to our reality then we must assume he will be of no help to defeat it this time. He intends to hide somewhere In Between while all that we know is destroyed. Gelded coward. The monster feeds on magic and life energy. Voraciously. While we have deep reserves, I could feel it draining me when it was close enough to do so. I have no doubt that it will sooner rather than later sniff out Equuis and come to consume it.”
“It is worse than that, Luna,” said Belldandy. “It consumes ALL. Life, death, all organic and inorganic material. It drains magic like a sponge. It will leave our universe a dead waste of which nothing, not even gods can escape. If Void understands what he has unleashed then the rules of the game have been completely discarded and it has become a race for survival.”
“Okay, that’s bad. How do we stop something like that? It is so much larger and stronger than the last one we exploded and then crushed. How are mortals, even alicorn mortals, supposed to help against something like that?”
Luna thought back to what she had seen on the tapestry. Sunset Shimmer’s cutie mark. It’s meaning both obscure and directly to the point. She sighed angrily, scowling darkly at Destiny and Fate. They needed to speak with Sunset. There was no further avoiding it. “The answer is found in the last thing the loom provided for you to sew. However, Chaz is right. We need more and must consult with Aine on this situation.”
Luna wobbled a bit as she tried to focus on where in the vast blackness her mother was. Her eyes came back into focus and she found her extended hand wrapped by another, smaller, more delicate one covered in fine, light gray fur.
“You are drained, Luna. We all are,” said Belldandy. “Perhaps it would be better if we called Aine to us?”
“Oh good,” Chaz quipped. “I think we are up to Plan C now.”
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Do you want to know how I still see a creature that will soon find Equus, this video will show, watch to the end:
https://youtube.com/shorts/7rhQpI5mNls?feature=share
You can already imagine what will happen next: A war is about to start between Equestria and Arabia, but then the Luna intervenes and says that it is better for everyone to unite in front of a common threat and shows the horror that will cover everyone, even the Gods. This means everything to everyone, even you will have to go back to the human colored world, see Athanatoi again and meet Ainya, and even go to Mirror Equestria. It's all like the Supernatural, when everyone, even GOD and the bad guys, joined together with Lucifer to stop the Darkness. Your plot is still going similar.
However, how can Sunset stop Goth (Omega), I think she will allow herself to be swallowed, and then she will blow him up from the inside with an exterminatus.
By the way, if Void thinks to sit out between the worlds, then here's a fact for him: this trash will find him there and devour him. His options are as follows:
1. run to another universe, though I do not know what Gods are there and what mores are there, for example, in the Stargate, the role of Gods is occupied by the Ascended Ancients and they will not like Void.
2. To help stop this rubbish before it's too late, though then he will be bullied and beaten after that, but they will not kill or devour him.
3. Stay between the worlds and wait for everyone to be devoured and get to you.
P.S. When do you think you saw(a) the main villain, the REAL main villain only appears at the very end.
Aww, now Sunny and Twily are looking to have kids. Wonder if Sunset will drop the bomb about how her first kid was conceived
And holy cow, that beast is frightening.
Cute, but Sunset does know of at least one non-magical method, after all she (and Sci-Twi) have already done it ... but as she says, magic could add complications ...
Hmmm, though Luna might have thrown a Tirek reference in there (mouse to Omega) ...
Shimmer proves yet again that she's a magnificent pervert. And Twily proves that she's easy to fluster.
Yea, Void's a ass.
When I read the title I was expecting something depressing…I’m so glad that’s not the case. The way the beast was described hit my ‘cosmic horror giant monsters’ addiction perfectly. If you’ve ever seen Star Trek: Voyager I'm imagining it to look something like the pitcher plant creature from the episode Bliss but more malevolent. Now I’m just wondering when I need to break out the season finale music: https://youtu.be/2X_2IdybTV0
For the Omega Beast, I am picturing a C'Thulu Mythos style whale that glides through the void, consuming everything it can find. It's so dark that light is absorbed by it, or so it seems.
It has too many eyes and the noises it makes destroy lesser minds. To look upon it is to know despair and madness.
But yeah, good chapter! Gotta have those two goddess nerds figure out how to make magical lesbian children.
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I have a number of threads out there, as you know, and I will try my best to tie them up satisfactory. As far as how we get there, that is part of the fun! As we move to the end we have we have 3 major concerns that need to be addressed, a potential war, a chaos god that needs to be dealt with, and a massive magic eating creature that cannot be fought by conventional means. Eventually, these all need to be whittled down.
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I don't know how Twilight would take hearing how Aurora Shimmer was conceived. I still shake my own head on that and the twisted muse that said, "Yeah, do that."
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Any talk of having children, even in our reality, needs to be taken seriously because there is always a risk of complication. My daughter was born with clubbing of her right food and has had to have multiple surgeries to correct it. Luna would know about having her power sucked away having had it happen more than once.
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I know I write Sunset a bit crass and raunchy, but honestly I think she would be this way from the bits of canon and the person I know that I base a lot of Adult Sunset's personality off of. The best part of having a friend or lover who can be easily flustered is to test them all in good fun.
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Like with Gods and Monsters the song title chapters will not always be a perfect nail on the head, but I try to parallel or have a theme close to the song title or lyrics. Yeah, there are no end of samples for giant space monster. A Google search can be a wonderful and terrible thing.
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It definitely has a lot of eyes coming from a realm of infinite darkness. The idea of invoking mind numbing terror upon sight like that of Lovecraft of Giger is what we are going for.
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"You did what with my brother?!"
"Technically it was your brother's counterpart, and it was his and Cadance's idea"
If Sunset slays Void, would that mean she would assume his place, like Luna did when she used Sunset's sword to slay Death?
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Not unless she impaled herself with Void. The sword Cleaves. Meaning it cuts apart or cleaves two things together. Simply stabbing or slashing him would only hurt her target.