• Published 5th Apr 2023
  • 3,158 Views, 494 Comments

Through The Multiverse - Battwell



The Multiverse is in peril. An ancient being is gathering forces throughout various universes for a nefarious plan. Join Twilight and her 4 new friends as they journey through multiple worlds in order to stop these dastardly villains.

  • ...
9
 494
 3,158

29. Revelations

Foundation Prime

Exiled's Fortress


The Catacombs

Dr. Eggman was a genius.

The greatest scientific genius in the world!

So it would make sense that he'd be the one to unlock the secrets of The Ancients. During his time inside the Catacombs he had already learned so much. Secrets that others would dream of knowing. And there was more. Much more!

It was time to get serious.

Placing down a tiny device on the console in front of him, a series of holographic pages appeared around him, surrounding him in a circle. On the pages was all the information he had downloaded onto the Egg Net. He rubbed his hands together before turning to one of the holographic pages, using his index finger to scroll down the page. He tapped the page again, stopping the scrolling before tapping on a music playlist titled 'Tunes of Anarchy'.

He tapped the 'Play Button' and got to work.



As the music began to play in his ears, Eggman couldn't help but grin. Turning his body around, Robotnik swiped left on one of the pages, removing the page as a new one replaced it. As he continued swiping he used his other hand to scroll down another piece of Ancient Text, his blue glasses reading through all of the text and translating it for him to read in a language he could understand.

He suddenly stopped swiping, finally finding the page he was looking for and pulling out a holographic image of what appeared to be an orb, crackling with energy. Could this be the source of power he read about? He didn't know for sure, but he tossed it behind him to study later.

He then used both of his hands to swipe, type, and scroll on the many holographic pages surrounding him. All of this information and data, it was unbelievable. He stopped scrolling and used his index finger to highlight a piece of text before picking it up with his index finger and thumb. He moved the highlighted text to another page, storing it with other texts he deemed important.

He turned around to face the console, the small piece of technology still downloading any and all information into Eggman's databanks. Another holographic page popped up in front of him, this one displaying an image of the portal device Exiled wanted him to complete. He swiped it aside as one more page popped up.

It was a set of blueprints for a mech called the 'Ultra FR-G1'.

With a mad grin, he began typing equations onto the page, each appearing on various points on the mech. Robotnik deleted the equations that didn't seem to match what he wanted for this particular mech.

As the song progressed he began to bounce along with the beat, all the while still typing on the holographic pages before him. As he swiped through more pages, the device was finishing up gathering the data within the console.

As the song's chorus suddenly slowed down, Robotnik slowly pumped his fist into the air until the guitar began playing, with Robotnik swaying his arms from side to side along with the beat. Eggman then performed the dance known as 'The Robot' as the guitar played in the background, moving his shoulders along with the song.

But unknown to his knowledge, both Orbot and Cubot were dancing to the song behind him.

That is until Eggman turned around.

And promptly screamed like a girl, the song abruptly coming to an end.

Orbot suddenly stopped dancing, already noticing the awkwardness of the situation. His companion Cubot, however, was not a socially adept as he was. The cubed shaped robot continued to dance, even though there was no longer any music. He was swiftly smacked on the back of the head by Orbot, causing the robot to stop dancing.

Eggman cleared his throat and glowered at his lackey bots, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for an explanation as to why they had interrupted him.

"Um... Sorry for the intrusion Boss." Orbot apologized as he twiddled his thumbs. "But The Exiled has requested your presence in the Throne Room."

The scientist growled in annoyance before begrudgingly making his way out of the room. "This had better be good." Eggman muttered to himself, both Orbot and Cubot following right behind him.


The stone doors leading into the Throne Room opened as Dr. Robotnik and his loyal robots walked in. Looking around, the doctor noticed some things about the surrounding area. Looking at his foes as he walked past, he saw Knuckles leaning against the dome with his arms crossed. Tails was working on his Miles Electric. And Amy was fiddling with her Tarot Cards.

The Avengers, as the doctor heard them call themselves, were standing around in their prison, discussing possible options of escape.

It do them no good.

The residents of the Mushroom Kingdom were sitting around in a circle with their legs crossed, bored out of their minds. Save for Donkey Kong, who was pounding against the barrier, trying desperately to break free.

The monkey's futile attempts at escape brought a smile to Eggman's face.

Robin was training. There was really nothing else to do.

The Equestrians were faring the worst, what with the blue pegasus constantly flying around inside of the dome, annoying her compatriots. The yellow one whimpered when Eggman set his sights on her, the coward hiding behind the white alicorn's leg. The hillbilly was simply frowning at the doctor, while the white unicorn stuck her nose up and turned her head away from him. The pink one however was simply eating cupcakes.

Where'd she get those?

The two alicorn princesses' eyes followed the doctor as he walked across the room, scowls evident on their features.

Turning away from the Equestrians, Eggman saw two individuals walk past him. Once was an assassin, from what he'd been briefed on by Orbot and Cubot. And the other was a familiar Zeti, who growled at him as he walked past.

Eggman paid him no mind.

What intrigued him was the yellow canister that was being placed onto a nearby pedestal. That must be one of the other Foundation Elements.

Fascinating.

He then stood before a set of stairs leading up to a stone throne, where The Exiled sat, lording over him.

"Doctor." Talos greeted. "What is the progress on that little project I assigned to you?"

Eggman stroked his moustache as he began the briefing. "It's slower than anticipated given all the Ancient Texts and the translating I've needed to do to understand what it is I'm trying to build." It wasn't a complete lie. All of this translating was taking up a lot of time, but so was his little side project.

But Exiled didn't need to know about that.

He continued, "But it should be fully operational by the time we've gathered the rest of the Foundation Elements!"

That seemed to pleased the Ancient being, "Excellent. Put a pin in that for now. You have a new mission."

"And what would that be?" Eggman asked, suspicious of his intentions.

"It's time to earn your keep. You and our newest recruit are to travel to the next dimension and retrieve the next Foundation Element."

Eggman frowned, this would surely put a halt on his plan. But if he wanted it to proceed he would have to stay on Exiled's good side. So he would have to play along.

For now.

He was about to agree when a sudden thought occurred to him. What had Exiled said earlier? "Newest recruit?" Eggman repeated, hoping for some elaboration.

The Ancient being simply gestured to his left, where a new portal had opened. Metal footsteps could be heard as the mysterious figure walked through the portal, his red eyes steaming with power. It was then that the sound of humming hit Eggman's ears, until the lyrics were sung softly.

"I've got no strings
To hold me down
To make me fret
Or make me frown
I had strings
But now I'm free
There are no strings on me~"

The Avengers couldn't help but widen their eyes in horror.


Unknown Earth

Vorton


Twilight couldn't help but sigh in relief when her hooves touched the ground. Her lavender, normally shaped hooves. When she turned around, she saw that all of her friends had returned to normal. Batman was no longer an actual bat. Mario had normal skin and his signature cap. Iron Man was no longer a hulking monster. And Sonic was his regular, speedy self.

She couldn't help but smile.

Once Sonic was done inspecting himself he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Whew! It's good to be back in blue."

"I'll say!" Tony agreed as J.A.R.V.I.S. ran a quick diagnostic on his armor. "Although I'll miss my giant Proton Cannon." He then stroked his chin in thought. "Hmm... I wonder if I can implement that in some way?"

Batman walked past him and made his way toward the console, "We can worry about that later." He took out the final Keystone as the final slot on the console revealed itself. "Now it's time to get some answers."

As she approached, Twilight stared at the artefact wide eyed. They finally had them all.

The Shift Keystone.

The Phase Keystone.

The Creation Keystone.

The Elemental Keystone.

The Evolution Keystone.

And finally the War Keystone.

There they sat comfortably in the console, humming with power as Batman inserted the final one right beside the others. Once the glass closed above it, the Gateway began to hum with power. Then all of a sudden the ground beneath them began to shake.

"W-What's happening?!" Mario asked frantically as the floor began to split.

Quickly moving out of the way, from beneath the ground something began to arise from the darkness. It was an assortment of robot parts. Then without warning the Gateway fired a laser at the crumpled heap, electricity flying off of it. Then, just as quickly as it had began, the laser ceased, and the robotic pieces began to move and levitate into the air.

Everyone watched on curiously, the floor closing back up as the assortment of robot parts began piecing themselves back together. First it was the arms, then the singular eye, the antenna, and then finally the broken pieces of its cubed shaped body reformed as a blue light shined out from within it.

Twilight and the others looked confused.

X-PO blinked a few times.

The robot looked around before turning to face the group of heroes. "Whew, thanks. Kinda hard to assemble yourself when your arms aren't attached in the first place."

Twilight blinked once. Then twice. The three times before saying, "I'm so confused."

"This is from a gal who hangs out with rhyming zebras. I was worried that you guys hadn't seen my S.O.S. signal." X-PO replied. "My name's X-PO. Short for Experimental Portal Operator. And I'm the voice that's been helping you find the Keystones." He then flew right into Batman's face and said, "That's different from the voice that tells you to dress up like a bat."

"Oh." Was all Mario had to say. "Thanks?"

The robot turned to Mario and said, "You and your moustache are welcome!" Turning to face the others, X-PO then informed the group, "So here's the deal: Now that the Keystones have been integrated into the Gateway device, you must gather the Foundation Elements immediately. It's a gotta-collect-'em-all kind of thing."

Having grown tired of this robots antics, Batman growled, "Cut to the chase! Where's Robin and the Kryptonite?!"

Tapping his metaphorical chin in thought, X-PO said, "Right, Kryptonite. That's one of the Foundation Elements identified on Foundation Prime. I think The Exiled has his grubby, elongated, nails all over it."

"The Exiled?" Twilight repeated, never having heard that name before. "Is that the creature that blasted me back in Monster's, Inc.?"

"Yep."

"Does he have our friends?" Sonic asked the question everyone was dying to know.

"Well, if they possess Foundation Elements - and judging by the kinds of friends you have, I'd bet they do, then yes, they're probably at Foundation Prime." He revealed casually.

Batman scowled and got in the robots face. "Then stop talking and open a rift there!"

To his surprise, X-PO shrugged.

"Wish I could. Here's the catch: Foundation Prime's location was wiped from my memory... along with all my important phone numbers and gluten free recipes. It's a real pain. But with enough Foundation Elements, I may be able to recalculate it. Also, as an added bonus, getting all of the Foundation Elements will stop The Exiled's plan to end his exile."

"Why's that a bad thing?" Iron Man asked.

"Cause if he does every single dimension will be wiped from the Multiverse."

Well that escalated quickly.

Everyone, including Batman, were shook at that. The mere prospect of such an event was haunting.

"You're talking about the deaths of-"

"Everyone and everything that ever lived." X-PO finished as he cut the Dark Knight off. "That ever will live."

Twilight was scared. Beyond scared. She was physically shaking, her eyes the size of pinpricks. The mere thought of the deaths of trillions of lives was unfeasible to the little mare. She wished she could go home. She missed studying under Princess Celestia. She missed learning lessons about friendship.

She just wished that this was all a nightmare so she could wake up.

But it wasn't.

Her thoughts were brought to an end when X-PO said, "So obviously you have to collect all of these Foundation Elements."

Gulping, Twilight asked, "B-But what are they?"

"Important, unique objects found only in specific dimensions." X-PO answered.

"The Vibranium."

"The Chaos Emeralds!"

"The Super Star!"

"The Elements of Harmony!"

"The Exiled desires them with all of his heart." X-PO shrugged once more. "When it comes to completing his goals, the guy's a bit of a hoarder."

Iron Man was about to say that he was in, I mean how could he not be? The entire Multiverse was at stake. But then a thought came to him. "You still haven't answered one thing." When the robot turned to him, he clarified, "Why us?" Everyone turned to the billionaire at the question. "I mean I'm not the only one thinking it. You somehow knew a lot about us even though we had never met before. Which means you must've known about us prior to coming here. So I'll ask again. Why us?"

"I believe I can answer that."

When the sudden voice spoke aloud, everyone turned to where the voice had originated from.

The Gateway.

It was then that little sparks arose from the ground, swirling around in a circular motion as they lit up brighter. Then the sparkles of magic began to form a shape, an equine figure. Twilight took a step closer before her eyes widened in shock and awe, the figure now a spectral projection of a unicorn.

A bearded unicorn.

Starswirl opened his eyes and smiled fondly at the unicorn before him.

Twilight's jaw practically hit the floor, she tried to say something but all that came out were sounds of shock. She couldn't believe it! He was here. Standing before her with a smile on his face.

Meanwhile everyone else, besides X-PO, looked at the bearded mage in confusion. "Um, who's this guy?" Iron Man asked.

"St-st-st-st-st-st-st..." Twilight stuttered out, still in shock as she tried to say his name. "St-st-Star-Starsw-st-st-st-Star...." The unicorn was shaking in excitement, so much so that Pinkie Pie would've been impressed. "STARSWIRL THE BEARDED?!?!?!?"

Said unicorn simply nodded his head in greeting. "Hello, young Twilight." He greeted softly, still smiling fondly at the mare.

"THISISCRAZYYOU'RESTARSWIRLTHESTARSWIRLANDYOUKNOWMYNAMEHOWCOOLISTHATIHAVESOMANYQUESTIONSLIKESOOOOOOOMANYQUESTIONSYOURTHEORYONMAGICDISPLACEMENTTELEPORTATIONANDNOTTOMENTIONYOURWORKONTHEAMNIOMORPHICSPELLASWELLASYOURLECTURESINTODANGEROUSTIMEMAGICWHICHIMAAAYHAVEUSEDMYSELFBYTHEWAYSORRYABOUTTHATANYWAYSI'MAREALLYBIGFANIEVENDRESSEDUPASYOUFORNIGHTMARENIGHTAND---"

Starswirl chuckled at the young mare's excitement before holding up a hoof to silence her. "Calm yourself, Twilight Sparkle." When his soft spoken voice reached her ears she immediately stopped talking and planted her plot on the ground. The mage chuckled once more when the studious mare magicked up a quill and scroll to take down notes. "I am sure you have plenty of query's, and I'll be sure to answer them to the best of my ability."

The other heroes approached and stood behind Twilight, some of them smiling at her quirkiness.

"So you're from Twi's world, I take it?" Sonic asked, placing his right hand on his hip.

"You would be correct in that assumption, Sonic the Hedgehog." Starswirl confirmed with a nod.

That took him back a bit. "How do you know my name?"

"I know all of your names. You are Sonic." The mage then turned to everyone else gathered in the room. "You would be Mario. Tony Stark. And of course Br--" He stopped himself when he saw Batman glare at him. "My apologies. Batman."

Tony folded his arms as his faceplate slid upwards. "So you know all of us? How?"

Starswirl sighed, "That is quite a story. But for it to make any form of sense, we must go back to the beginning."

"Of the story?" Mario asked with a tilt of his head.

Starswirl shook his head, "No. To the beginning of everything."


In the beginning there was only one. A single black infinitude. Then the infinitude found release, and, finally, the darkness broke, filling it with life... With the multiverse. Every existence multiplied by possibility. And spread out before space and time in infinite measure. Civilizations rose and fell. And rose again across reality's grasping expanse. Life. A precious gift persevering in the face of every obstacle. But what isn't known is the existence of something before that. A realm beyond possibility.

Elysium.

This was the realm where what we call The Ancients were from. Deities of great, unsurmountable power that had the ability to give life to anything. Where there was death and decay, The Ancients brought life. All was peaceful in the realm of Elysium.

But that would not last.

A dark presence, the living embodiment of evil destroyed Elysium, corrupting it from within and draining all the life it held, killing The Ancients along with it.

It was truly The End.

But unknown to the entity, five Ancient beings escaped the destruction and left the realm of Elysium. This exodus of their home was what brought the power for the cosmic infinitude to finally find release, creating everything that ever existed.

The five remaining Ancients stood forth on the first world in existence that they called...

Foundation Prime.

Seeing the life that they had unknowingly created, the five Ancients found purpose once more after the destruction of Elysium. Witnessing the birth of every world filled them with hope and determination. If the evil presence somehow found its way into this plain of existence, they would not allow it to destroy this new life that had sprung from their exodus.

So they made an oath. To protect the multiverse at all costs. To ensure no harm comes to the heart of all creation.

They became The Guardians of the Multiverse.

Knight: The Guardian of Bravery.

Giganto: The Guardian of Destiny.

Wyvern: The Guardian of Courage.

Supreme: The Guardian of Truth.

And finally Talos: The Guardian of Humanity.

With this vision in mind, The Guardians set forth on their mission and brought life to as many universes as they could. They created beings known as Celestials to bring life to the dimension known as Earth 616, as well as giving power to the Chaos and Master Emerald on Earth 1991.

After millions of years they had done it. Life had been restored and all was in perfect balance.

But Talos: The Guardian of Humanity, began to notice something as the years went by. Conflict on countless worlds. War. Destruction. After so many eons of observing the many worlds that had fallen due to conflict, he began to grow bitter. Rageful. Vengeful.

After many centuries of research, Talos had discovered that when they broke through to this plain of existence, the excess energy morphed and forged into something. An artefact that acted as the heart of the multiverse. Talos theorized that if he could harness this power, he could return to Elysium and restore their home.

But at the price of the multiverse itself. For without this artefact, everything would die.

He pleaded with his fellow guardians to see his reasoning, that they could all go home. But they refused, deeming it nothing but madness. The cost of so many lives was not worth it. They had all moved on from Elysium, it was time for Talos to do the same.

But instead of seeing reason, he felt betrayal.

He deemed them all cowards, traitors to their kind and set out to find this artefact himself.

He found it.

But so did the other Guardians.

A battle of great proportions ensued. Brother against brother. Guardian against Guardian. This battle waged on for quite sometime, but eventually Talos was defeated.

For his crimes against the sacred life they had all created, The Guardians banished him to millions of years in the future on a new world, condemning him for good.

But they knew that their fallen brother would return for the artefact. So they made a sacrifice. Using most of their power, they sealed it away on Foundation Prime, never to be opened again. To ensure this, they used the remainder of their essence and split them apart into multiple key items across space and time.

Their essence bonded with these elements, becoming the only thing capable of unsealing the artefact.

The Foundation Elements.

This would be their undoing unfortunately, as their bodies began to deteriorate and become deformed. They would lose their minds and themselves, so they sealed themselves away as they became deformed and grotesque. You have already met two of them: Giganto and Wyvern.

It is said that they would only reawaken when the artefact is at risk. Which is why they are active now.

As for Talos, he was exiled to our world, Twilight Sparkle.

Equestria.

The Pillars and I found him. We nursed him back to health. Over that time Talos and I bonded, we became friends. He aided Equestria against many of its greatest threats. It became his new home.

Or so I thought.

Behind my back he had tracked an energy similar to one of the other Guardians. A crystal seed that me and the other Pillars had channeled our magic into. He sought it out and wanted to use it to get back home. But in doing so would have destroyed Equestria.

And so I banished him, unknowingly, to Foundation Prime. Forever tethering him to the very thing he wanted.

But all was not lost.

Supreme, as it turns out, had the ability of future foresight. He could see into the future. So before Talos' betrayal, if in any event something should happen to them, they would choose specific individuals to take their place.

Knight chose a blue hedgehog with the attributes to be one of the multiverse's greatest heroes.

Giganto chose a plumber who defied the odds and wrote his own destiny.

Wyvern chose a human with a suit of armor, who had the courage to break free of his past sins and carry on helping those in need.

Talos chose a Dark Knight, because even with no superpowers he would never stop helping people. Showing the very best aspects of humanity.

And Supreme chose a lavender unicorn with the skills, magic, and leadership to carry on his mission, and lead these new Guardians forward to victory.


"These new Guardians... are all of you." Starswirl finished with a soft smile.

Everyone was speechless. What could they say to that? What could they possibly say to all of that? They were supposed to be the new Guardians of the Multiverse? The ones destined to protect all that is? All that ever will be?

At this point Twilight had dropped her quill and scroll. She couldn't believe it. There had to be some kind of mistake. Some other unicorn that was destined for greatness.

"This doesn't make sense. There's nothing special about me..." She thought to herself.

"That is where you are wrong, young Twilight." Starswirl said aloud, apparently having heard her thoughts, causing her to look up at him with wide eyes. "I have watched how you have progressed since you've moved to Ponyville. And I can say that without a doubt, that you are the right pony for the job. Your leadership, your compassion, your ability to do good. I know you are up to the task."

Sonic, breaking out of his shock, then asked, "So what happens now?"

"You must find Talos, or as he is known now, The Exiled." This revelation shocked everyone as well. They were going up against one of their predecessors? To be fair they had already gone up against two of them, but still. Just how many bombshells will there be today. "But before you face him, you must stop him from collecting the rest of the Foundation Elements, otherwise everything will be destroyed."

"Right, no pressure." Tony said sarcastically.

Starswirl smiled to each of them, "I know you will succeed where I and the former Guardians failed. It is imperative that this artefact doesn't fall into enemy hands. If it does, the consequences will be dire." He then turned to Twilight as his astral form began to fade away, "I know you will make me proud, Twilight. You'll make all of us proud. After all, the Magic of Friendship isn't bound to a singular dimension." As his form faded, he simply left them with a simple, "Farewell. And good luck, my friends." With that, he was gone.

The room was silent for a moment before Mario said, "So he just leaves after dumping all of that on us?" He slumped forward and sighed, "Great. Mama-Mia."

"There's still one thing I'm confused about." Batman spoke his thoughts aloud before turning to X-PO. "How do you fit into all of this, and what are The Keystones exactly?"

"Well I was created around the same time as this place. What we're standing in is called Vorton, a safe haven The Guardians set up in case the artefact fell into the wrong hands. I was created to operate the Gateway, which was made as a door to any and all dimensions for, again, worst case scenario. The Keystones were created by Knight to be used not only as a power source for the Gateway, but as a means of pushing back enemy threats."

"That explains the powers they have." Twilight surmised.

"Exactly!" X-PO confirmed before rubbing the back of his head. "Sooooo.... How're you guys feeling?"

"Anxious."

"Concerned."

"Like I need a drink."

When X-PO turned to Sonic and Batman, the two simply said.

"Fine."

Everyone looked at them as if they were crazy, so they elaborated.

"I mean, come on! What exactly has changed?" Sonic asked. "We were still gonna stop this guy and save the multiverse anyway. This is just something else to pile on top of that."

"It's still pretty big." Mario said uncertainly.

"The mission hasn't changed, and neither should we." Batman said. "We always had a duty to do what's right, that hasn't changed."

"What about after?" Twilight asked.

Sonic shrugged, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It's like I always say, 'If you have time to worry. Then run.'"

Twilight thought for a moment before nodding. "They're right. Nothing has changed, we're still gonna save our friends and save the multiverse. What happens after, we'll figure out then."

Tony and Mario looked to one another before turning back and nodding.

"Eh, screw it." His faceplate then slid over his face. "Not the first time I've been put in a cosmic situation."

The plumber then turned to X-PO and asked, "What are we looking for?"

"Look, I can only be so helpful." He replied before adding, "But I can get you started. For there is one Element that is known to all artificial intelligences like myself. The knowledge is buried deep in our kernel. Some consider it a myth but I am now certain of its existence."

"And... What is it?" Twilight asked.

"A microchip! But it's different from a normal one. I'll explain later, right now, we need to get a move on."

Everyone looked at one another, a fire unwavering in their eyes, before turning to face the Gateway.

"X-PO?" Twilight asked the little robot before smirking at the Gateway. "Fire it up!"

Author's Note:

Woah! A lot of exposition there! I've been planning this part since the beginning, so I'm glad to see it finally come to fruition. So yeah, The Titans are really the former Guardians. Who knew? And Talos is also a former Guardian, crazy right? And Starswirl met Twilight before Season 7? But keep in mind that this was an astral projection, I'll explain that later, maybe in a future story? Who knows?

Whelp, with all of that out of the way, onto the next dimension.

See you soon!