Part 1: The Nebula

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Twilight Sparkle wasn't crying. Not because she wasn't miserable, she was, but because she had already run out of tears long before any of the events that had led to her banishment to these stars had even occurred. It had been an overtly desperate, last-ditch attempt of an action. (Twilight had known it then, and she still knew it now.) But she was panicked, and it was very common knowledge that Twilight wasn't the most rational of ponies whenever she was in a state of panicked stress.

Twilight could easily remember her final moments on Earth, sorry, 'Neo-Equestria', before that madmare banished her. The events were very recent, but felt as though they had been decades ago.

+++ +++ BEGIN FLASHBACK +++ +++

Twilight blanked out the droning about 'preserving the purity of Equestrian friendship' coming from the mouth of what had once been her beloved mentor, but was now nothing more or less than a tyrranical villain just like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra, Sunset Shimmer, Tirek, the Sirens, and Starlight Glimmer. Twilight couldn't help but notice that Luna had been just as openly defiant of Soleste's so-called 'glorious new approach to spreading the truest magic of friendship by establishing a larger circle' as Twilight had been, but Luna, much unlike Twilight, had found herself imprisoned in the dungeons rather than banished.

Twilight almost hoped that other villains would attempt to usurp the current tyrant, but she didn't count on it. She hoped that Shining Armor and Cadence's secret conspiracy would do better than Luna and herself had.

Even so, she desperately hoped that the humans would win, survive, escape, something! Twilight knew, right there and then, that she would not, could not, allow Soleste to get away with her madness.

Then, after what had felt like several consecutive eternities, the moment finally came, the baneful aura emerged from the mad ruler's horn as she cast the spell to banish Twilight to the stars.

+++ +++ END FLASHBACK +++ +++

Twilight knew that she needed a better plan to put an end to Soleste and her insanity, but that was easier said then done. After all, Soleste, in her madness, managed to 'level up' into some strange kind of being that can only be described as the first ever archalicorn in existence.

Even still, that was the least of Twilight's worries, her body shuddered involuntarily as her thoughts drifted to the memory of the last moment she had shared with the five mares that she had come to know as her friends...

+++ +++ BEGIN FLASHBACK +++ +++

The six of simply stared at each other, not moving, not speaking, just staring. Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, but whatever she had been about to say was shot down when Twilight said, "This is just like the wedding, except that we all know I'm right about the current situation, you just won't do anything.

"No! I'm not exaggerating, this is exactly the same, I tried to take action, I failed, and now I'm being abandoned by those closest to me. Well, except Spike, but that's only because he's, he's," Twilight broke down into sobs, unable to bring herself to finish her sentence. Her friends left her alone, in a deliberately slow pace. They clearly had been affected by Twilight's words, because they hadn't been able to bring themselves to attend Twilight's banishment ceremony.

+++ +++ END FLASHBACK +++ +++

Twilight had never felt so trapped in such a hopeless situation in her entire life. But, seeing as she was imprisoned, she was also helpless, she had no options or choices to make.

"Do you truly believe that you have no options?" asked a mysterious presence.

Twilight turned, gasped, and asked the entity in front of her, "W-What, what, what are you?"

"I am Galactus, the be-all and end-all of the Universe."

"What, what do you want from me?"

"I want you to become my herald, Twilight Sparkle."

"Your... herald?"

"Yes, as the Devourer of Worlds, I require a herald to search the cosmos for compatable energy sources to feed off of in order for me to sustain myself."

Twilight gasped as the entity beamed all of this information and more into her very psyche. After she recovered, Galactus continued, "If you agree to serve me as my herald, then I will grant you the meanest fraction of my power."

"And, and your p-power is..."

"Yes, mine is the Power Cosmic!"

"Th-This, this is, I-I mean this is all so..."

"Do you accept my offer, Twilight Sparkle? Are you willing to become my herald?"

"Yes, Galactus, err, Master, I accept your most gracious offer to become your new herald."

"Very well."

"And, Master, I..."

"Yes, my new herald?"

"Master, I wish to bring you to Earth when my banishment ends and Soleste's magic no longer blocks it off from me."

"You would willingly doom your own people and your own world to my hunger, my herald?" Galactus inquired in obvious shock.

"Earth was never my world, Master..."

"And?..." Galactus prodded gently.

"And they are no longer my people, not anymore. Everything has become so corrupted that your arrival would be the only act of mercy left."

"..."

"Master?"

"Well said, my herald, well said. Now, prepare yourself!" Galactus said as he lifted his hand over Twilight, which glowed with the might of the Power Cosmic.

Twilight's heart skipped a beat.

Then, it happened. A minuscule trickle of the Power Cosmic poured out from Galactus's hand and into Twilight's body. Twilight closed her eyes as she braced herself for a painful, gradual transformation. She needn't have bothered. It was instantaneous.

Twilight opened her eyes, and was pleasantly surprised that her Master had ensured that she would be instantly adjusted to her new form, and instinctively knew how to use her newfound powers over not only her personal variant of the Power Cosmic, but also her Power Cosmic-enhanced magic! But then again, Galactus had always expected his heralds to immediately get to work on finding energy sources to feed on, so of course he enabled his heralds to skip learning how to master their abilities.

"Listen carefully, my herald, as I am in an especially giving mood right now, I am willing to allow you to decide upon your new name."

She closed her eyes, she thought long and hard, and, finally, she opened her eyes and said, "Master, I am Silent Dusk, the Herald of Galactus!"

Part 2: The World

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+++ +++ +++THREE DAYS POST-BANISHMENT OF TWILIGHT SPARKLE+++ +++ +++

Soleste's reign only functioned thanks to one thing and one thing alone. And that one thing was, in fact, her psychosis. Because her warped mind genuinely believed that her rule over the now 'purified' planet would be a prosperous 'Golden Age' of sorts, it was. She was constantly subconsciously warping reality to fit her vision of her rule. All work literally did itself when unobserved as a result of Soleste's madness.

The only reason everypony still accepted her rule was because they were to scared to do anything about it. As a result, they lived their lives day-in and day-out eternally at the mercy of Soleste's demented whims.

It was not a good existence at all. The officially unofficial consensus was that they would have preferred to be ruled by Discord. After all, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony was many things, but at least he always eager to own up and admit his insanity.

Soleste grinned from ear to ear as she watched her transformed sister, now acting on her newly programmed sense of vanity, pose in front of the bedroom mirror.

"So you see, Sister," Soleste said, "It has come to my attention that every queen needs a jester, a fool, somepony whose purpose is to mock the queen and get away with it. I have chosen you. From now on, you are no longer Princess Luna, you are now Loona, my personal harlequin!"

"Like, totally Sistress!" Loona giggled, her outfit jingling as she nodded her head.

"Good! You have already finished adapting to the new mindset that my Persona Spell gave you! Now follow me Sister, we have a great day ahead of us!"

As they walked down the castle hallway, Soleste never noticed Loona looking at the sky, whispering, "You have to help us Twilight Sparkle, you have to help us all."

Two Years Later

"Well?" Soleste asked impatiently as Nurse Redheart examined the corpse of Loona, "What happened to my favorite jester?"

"Well, you see your highness, I honestly don't know what exactly did happen, but as far as I can tell, in my professional medical opinion, it seems that her energy was... devoured."

"Devoured?! What do you mean 'devoured'? What exactly are you saying?!"

"I mean that some sort of force that is far greater than, what would be to it, a mere alicorn, buck it obviously eclipses the likes of King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Tirek combined and at their height actually feasted on her energies, leaving her a husk of a remnant of what she was!"

"But she her energies are equal to that of an anomalous, albeit life-bearing, MOON!"

"My point exactly," Redheart responded curtly. And with that, she packed her bags and left the deranged tyrant demigoddess standing there, staring in shock.

Meanwhile

"Was that moon satisfactory, Master?" Silent Dusk asked.

"Indeed it was, my Herald. Indeed it was. And yet...."

"Master?"

"And yet I still hunger. Galactus must feed!"

"Very well Master, I have already received intel from my scouting units, and I have several options for you to choose from."

"No."

"No, Master?"

"No. The time has come!"

"The time has come? What do you mean, Master?"

"It it time for you to make your prodigal return."

"Very well. I will be sure to prepare an excellent feast for you."

"Good. Now go, for I hunger."

One Week Later: Earth/Neo-Equestrian Time

Something streaked across the sky, and crashed in what was once Washington D.C., leaving a smoking crater. Then eyes glowed with power as a voice triumphantly declared, "I have returned!"

Three Days Later:

Silent Dusk had devastated all of Neo-Equestria in the short span of time since she had arrived and revealed herself to be none other than the Element of Magic, Twilight Arcana Sparkle.

And, nothing had been capable of even scratching her, let alone slowing her down when she had proven herself and her newfound Power Cosmic to be unstoppable when faced with Equestrian magic!

Discord had just taken one quick glance at her and said, "Forget this, I'm outta here!"

He would never return to this plane of reality again.

Desperate, Queen Soleste and Twilight's once-friends are making one last final stand against her.

"Really? This is all you have to fight with? I actually expected more from you, Soleste."

"You should know not to underestimate me, Silent Dusk," Soleste simply said.

"We know you're still in there, Twilight! And we're gonna break you out of that wannabe Nightmare-thing!" Rainbow Dash proclaimed.

Silent Dusk simply watched the enthusiastic agreement of the rest of her former friends in disinterest even as Soleste said. "You see Twilight? We haven't given up on you. And that's why we will defeat you Silent Dusk!"

"Twilight? What are you talking about? Do you mean Twilight Sparkle, the mare that you murdered? The mare who was reincarnated into me? I'm doing this for her and something beyond your comprehension! You banished Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, only for Silent Dusk, the Herald of Galactus!"

"Galactus?" Applejack asked, "What's Galactus?"

"Galactus. Galactus is."

"Galactus is what?" Soleste asked skeptically.

"Galactus is and ever will be!" Silent Dusk proclaimed as she took to the air as she charged a powerful energy blast.

The battle was over, Silent Dusk stood triumphantly over her fallen foes. She took another moment to savor her victory, then she got to work.

"My Queen," Rarity whispered, "What is she doing?"

Soleste opened her mouth to speak, but whatever she had been about to say was cut short when Silent Dusk said, "I can hear you. But I will explain what is going to happen now."

"Allright, what are you doing and what's going to happen now?" Fluttershy asked timidly.

"I am signalling my master, Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, to come so he can consume this planet."

Pinkie gasped.

"Yes, it's the end of the world," Silent Dusk confirmed as her beacon activated, summoning a massive entity that appeared in the sky.

"I am the be-all and end-all of the universe," it boomed, "I am Galactus. And I hunger."

"It, it's all, it's all over," Soleste whimpered in a defeated tone.

"Yes, yes it is," Silent Dusk agreed.

THE END

Author's Note: A Confession About this Portion of this Fic

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+++ +++ +++THREE DAYS POST-BANISHMENT OF TWILIGHT SPARKLE+++ +++ +++

Soleste's reign only functioned thanks to one thing and one thing alone. And that one thing was, in fact, her psychosis. Because her warped mind genuinely believed that her rule over the now 'purified' planet would be a prosperous 'Golden Age' of sorts, it was. She was constantly subconsciously warping reality to fit her vision of her rule. All work literally did itself when unobserved as a result of Soleste's madness.

The only reason everypony still accepted her rule was because they were to scared to do anything about it. As a result, they lived their lives day-in and day-out eternally at the mercy of Soleste's demented whims.

It was not a good existence at all. The officially unofficial consensus was that they would have preferred to be ruled by Discord. After all, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony was many things, but at least he always eager to own up and admit his insanity.

Soleste grinned from ear to ear as she watched her transformed sister, now acting on her newly programmed sense of vanity, pose in front of the bedroom mirror.

"So you see, Sister," Soleste said, "It has come to my attention that every queen needs a jester, a fool, somepony whose purpose is to mock the queen and get away with it. I have chosen you. From now on, you are no longer Princess Luna, you are now Loona, my personal harlequin!"

"Like, totally Sistress!" Loona giggled, her outfit jingling as she nodded her head.

"Good! You have already finished adapting to the new mindset that my Persona Spell gave you! Now follow me Sister, we have a great day ahead of us!"

As they walked down the castle hallway, Soleste never noticed Loona looking at the sky, whispering, "You have to help us Twilight Sparkle, you have to help us all."

Two Years Later

"Well?" Soleste asked impatiently as Nurse Redheart examined the corpse of Loona, "What happened to my favorite jester?"

"Well, you see your highness, I honestly don't know what exactly did happen, but as far as I can tell, in my professional medical opinion, it seems that her energy was... devoured."

"Devoured?! What do you mean 'devoured'? What exactly are you saying?!"

"I mean that some sort of force that is far greater than, what would be to it, a mere alicorn, buck it obviously eclipses the likes of King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Tirek combined and at their height actually feasted on her energies, leaving her a husk of a remnant of what she was!"

"But she her energies are equal to that of an anomalous, albeit life-bearing, MOON!"

"My point exactly," Redheart responded curtly. And with that, she packed her bags and left the deranged tyrant demigoddess standing there, staring in shock.

Author's Notes:

I only wrote this out-of-genre acid trip bull**** as filler because I was suffering writer's block, and couldn't figure out how to advance the plot I was writing.

I also think I did a shoddy job afterwards when I wrote the scene where Galactus ordered his herald, Silent Dusk (a.k.a. Twilight Sparkle), to return to post-Conversion Earth as well as her arrival.

I plan on remastering this fic with all that filler removed, additional scenes that I had actually planned to write initially, revised and fleshed out scenes, etcetera etcetera.

Please feel free to ask questions and leave comments.

I hope to post the chapter that is the Remastered Director's Special Edition by the anniversary of when I got the first chapter of this fic published.

Thank you for all the support!

Full-Length Cut: the "One-Shot Edition"