Where in Equestria are we?

by Blackdrag-rose

IV: The Truth

Trixie opened her eyes and found herself back in the Terminal, only this time she and her reluctant allies were surrounded by the Warriors of Harmony. Shining was shouting orders and the ponies were setting up the tents they had only taken down not ten minutes ago. Vinyl watched as she stood by the Gatekeeper, making corrections to the camp whenever she saw there was an error to fix.

"Ugh, I hate coming here," Trixie said, a group of guards passing her, "Can somepony please explain what the deal is with these Seven Keys we have to find? I thought we were supposed to find them so we could go home, not fight in a war we have no part in being included in."

"I can explain," the Gatekeeper answered, beckoning as he moved to a area with cushions, "Sit and I will explain to you what you want to know."

Trixie stared at the stallion, but sighed as her friends took a seat around the Gatekeeper. She took an empty cushion and was surprised that she couldn't hear the soldiers working. The Gatekeeper wanted to make sure their conversation went unheard she realized.

"They all know what we're dealing with," the Gatekeeper explained, taking Trixie by surprise yet again, "We are dealing with a being who calls himself High Lord Oblivion. He isn't a normal pony as he seems to be, but he is a god bound in a mortal form."

Before anypony could ask anything a visual appeared in the center of the group, showing a huge dragon with blood red scales and pitch black eyes, standing in flames that seemed to have no effect on him.

"His real name and titles," the Gatekeeper continued, "is Oblivion, the Black Drake of Hatred, the God of Darkness, and Commander of the Army of Hatred. First I must allow Vinyl to tell her tale before I reveal anything else to the rest of you. I will be changing this image to reflect her story, so keep an eye on it as you listen to her."

The group turned to Vinyl to find that she had removed her glasses and set them on the floor next to her. Her eyes were magenta, which actually settled the debate on whether her eyes were magenta or red colored. She almost looked tired, as if she hadn't slept for days on end.

"Let's see here, where to start," Vinyl said, chuckling to herself before turning towards the group, "I first learned of the Gateway to this world over a thousand years ago during the time when Discord ruled Equestria. Not knowing what to expect I jumped in and found the Terminal, where three alicorns waited patiently. One was a white coated mare with a full pink mane and had a sun Cutie Mark, while the other was a dark blue coated mare with a light blue mane and had a crescent moon Cutie Mark. They were the original Celestia and Luna.

I told the Gatekeeper about the chaos that Discord was causing and he told me that everything would be handled. He had me lead our future leaders back to my world and once we got there they took off. Now I thought that they might have abandoned Equestria to its fate of staying under Discord's rule forever, but boy was I wrong. They found the Elements of Harmony and harnessed their power to turn Discord to solid stone.

The citizens were thrilled and the two decided to stay and watch over my world, but the Gatekeeper summoned me back to the Terminal before I could join the party. He told me about a creature so evil, so hateful, that he had been sealed away with his seven strongest attributes acting as the keys. That was when I learned about Oblivion, his true nature, and the war to claim the Seven Keys.

I decided to help the war effort by finding the keys and the first world I went to nearly got me killed. Try fighting giant when your a huge fraction of their size and staring up at them. Luckily I made it out of that world and crossed it off the list I was given, marking that the world didn't have one of the seven keys. Mind you that I decided to heal myself before I even dared to enter a second world, but I recovered quickly and was ready for more.

That was when I discovered the very world you had visited earlier, the World of Hate. At first I thought it was some strange parallel world where everypony was hateful and wanted the light of friendship snuffed out forever. Using my sword, which I grabbed from the first world, and my magic I confronted the hateful ponies and quickly discovered that one against a thousand plus wasn't going to do anything. So I retreated to the Terminal, where I devised a plan to build an army from the residents of the various worlds so I could combat Oblivion and his hate.

And so for the next thousand years I searched the vast majority of the worlds, gathering whatever allies I could as I fought against Oblivion. When rumors of a special key reached my ears I would journey to where it was rumored to be and searched, but never found anything. Princess Luna would open the Gateway from her side so I could travel back home to relax after visiting a couple of worlds, allowing me to stay until I was called in again. And once or twice I convinced her to join me in my mission to gather the keys and seal Oblivion away forever."

"More than that my dear," the Gatekeeper chuckled, "For the last thousand years she and Luna have been coming and going throughout the Terminal, fighting Oblivion's armies and searching for the keys. To make up for her absence in her Equestria Luna and Celestia decided to spread a rumor of Nightmare Moon, a version of Luna's 'jealously' taken over to spread eternal night across the whole of Equestria. So when the illusion was defeated by the Elements of Harmony a thousand years later Luna returned as a filly, making it seem like she had been freed rather then facing the truth of her deception."

"I forgot it was that long," Vinyl admitted, "I guess I shouldn't have taken her away for so long."

"So," Trixie said, "other than what Vinyl told us what else do we need to know about Oblivion?"

"As we mentioned the Seven Keys are pieces of his spirit," the Gatekeeper started, "and they are spread out throughout the worlds. The seven are as follows; Hate, Deception, Violence, Darkness, Greed, Arrogance, and Wrath. When the keys were created they were scattered across the worlds as we sealed Oblivion in a special prison. He managed to create a mortal form that can die, but we have failed to kill him.

The Key of Hate, which you are wearing, was the first to be created. The other six, scattered as they may be, came after it and are lost. Thanks to Vinyl's efforts we have cracked down the possible locations of the other six to a dozen possible worlds. Soon I will summon the Gateway to a world from the list and you will travel there. You will find the Key, whichever it is, fight Oblivion's forces if they are there, and return here without delay. I will ask that the Key of Hate stay here in case Oblivion were to capture you after you obtained the second key."

Trixie hoofed the necklace and removed the key with her magic, her mind already lost in thought. If she had unlimited access to the Terminal like Vinyl did then she could become immortal. She could learn all the magic there was in the worlds so she could finally best Twilight Sparkle. And maybe she'd take down Oblivion as well.

A gateway opened behind the Gatekeeper, who beckoned to it. Lyra, Derpy, and Trixie headed straight through it, leaving the Gatekeeper alone with Vinyl. The DJ smiled and followed her comrades into the gate, looking back at the Gatekeeper before vanishing into the unknown world.