They were screaming again. Second and Third always screamed when First took control of their shared body. No, they were not mad at him for taking control; it was his body and they were the younger personalities, after all. The were not even angry at him for what what he did while he was awake. His actions were for the good of all three of them, and they recognized it as such.

No, what they screamed were cries of sorrow. In less than an hour, Second and Third would forget him once again, as they always did, and as they always would when First came out to work. It was not safe for them to remember him when First was not in control of their body.

He was not cruel, though. First always gave his younger selves back their missing memories whenever he awoke, memories of their collective identity and shared history. He loved his younger aspects as if they were his adorable little siblings, and they loved him back. He treated them kindly and always told them stories as he worked. Stories about Father and Grandmother, stories about their five elder siblings, or anything they wished to hear, First would tell them all. In return, Second would tell about her adventures while Third would recount stories about their little half-sister. And they loved their time together.

But they could not remember him in any amount while he slept. They could not even remember who they really were without him, only the false identities that they had created. But it was not just them that forgot. With the exception of Grandma, when First slept, the multiverse and everything in it forgot his existence, too. And with the exception of his work, the very reason for his creation, every trace of his existence would vanish the moment he fell asleep. That was his greatest defense, and why he would succeed where his elder siblings had failed.

Even the most powerful of beings, creatures like his father, who had smuggled him into these two universes, could not remember all the details of his existence. Sure, those few individuals remembered First’s collective name and what his purpose was, and rightly feared him for it. But for all the power of those who remembered, that little information was all and nothing more. They could never actually find him.

First slipped through the shared night of both worlds, giving thanks to their little half-sister and her partner for something so beautiful, so useful. Sure, he could always work in sight of the tasty mortals, but why bother? They were only a distraction from his work. And he could not reprimand his younger selves for not eating well enough, as they would forget that they were even supposed to eat the mortals the moment he fell asleep again. Honestly, if he did not work fast enough to secure their position, Second and Third might be the literal death of him.

Second’s manifestation stopped in the middle of a sandy wasteland; at the same moment, Third’s arrived in a forest. Both forms were well out of reach of any mortal interference. Then they began to work.

Back and forth, back and forth First went, rhythmically seeing to his repetitive task. All the while, Second and Third merrily sang to one another. They rejoiced as First worked, taking comfort in each other’s presence, knowing that as soon as First slept, they would return to being two individuals instead of one entity. Meanwhile, First thought away as he directed the operation; his mind made trillions of precise calculations every millisecond, far faster than any mortal computer, and used the results to guide every single step of his plan.

And while First worked, he did their collective equivalent of drooling. His metaphysical stomach rumbled, reminding him once again of his ever present hunger. First chided himself, reminding his body that now was not the time to feed. He had to wait just a little longer now, maybe a year or two, tops, before he evolved to the next stage of his life cycle and could thus feed freely. And what was a year to an immortal that could remember trillions?

Granted, those years had not happened yet; time was a fickle thing. Those memories came from a separate timeline, one whose past had yet to already occur. But it would not be long now until First could make that subtle change, to insert himself in the past, present, and future of these two worlds. Then he would die, his first goal completed, and he would be devoured by his younger personalities, merging three into two.

First felt satisfied, as his work for this waking period was finished. The effects upon these worlds would not be felt until later. What was it that the mortals called that time, September? It did not matter to First, as he would be devouring them all soon enough.

He concentrated, ordering the manifestations back to where they would have been had he not awoken. When he was satisfied that everything was perfectly in place, First made his approximation of a smile. He bid his younger personalities farewell. Though they cried and begged him to stay, he told them it was not to be, and that he would be back very soon.

His grip on consciousness slipped momentarily, but Second and Third did their best to keep the elder personality awake. The relatively childish siblings begged him for a reverse bedtime story, where he would talk for as long as he could stay awake. First agreed. He asked what story they wanted to hear. Third asked for the story of Nightmare, the sibling closest to them in age. First approximated a sigh and reluctantly agreed.

He told them of how Father Discord had Created big sister Nightmare in the previous world. He recounted to them of her struggles, those of which he had herd from Grandmother C̦̱͍̊h̫̱̋̋ͮͅa̰̿ȍ̳͙̬ͧͦ͌s͚̙͆͋͆, and of Nigtmare’s plan to destroy all of reality. First told Second and Third of Nightmare’s failure and how it caused the multiverse to reset early. He spoke of how she had survived the reset, the Big Bang, and how she lived to this day as a crippled wraith, without form and lost in a universe that was not her own. First told them about how she had found Luna, how they had become friends. He regaled Luna’s jealousy, how they had merged together to create Nightmare Moon, and how they had been struck down by their cousin and his ally, the Harmony Tree and Sun Goddess Celestia, respectively.

Second and Third hissed and booed, furious at the actions of their deranged cousin. How could anything like order and harmony, of all things? They hated the tree, for it acted against their very reason for existing.

When First calmed them down, he told of Nightmare Moon’s return, and how the Harmony Tree, with six new allies, had struck the bonded pair down once more. He told them of how Nightmare had been ripped from Luna and her power all but destroyed. And he told them of how she had been reduced to a state weaker than a mortal’s soul.

If Second and Third had been angry before, they were furious now. They hissed and spit and frothed at their metaphysical mouth. They vowed vengeance against the Harmony Tree, promising to devour it as painfully as possible.

But before he could calm his lesser selves once more, First found his connection to the waking world slipping once more. And as the first personality of Oblivion fell asleep, reality itself forgot.

Author's Notes:

*Ding* Short chapter is short.

This wasn't what I was originally going to post here. I have the old chapter 54 all ready to go, but am withholding it because I did not want InfiniteBrony reading it before we worked on what was going to be 55. Now the old chapter 54 is now chapter 55 and you can have this while you wait.

This is a short little thing to hint at what's going on with Oblivion. Can't have you, The-Ones-Who-Observe-From-Beyond-The-Wall be oblivious to everything, now can I?

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Now, who noticed my new cover art? It was done by ArchTea, who is also planning to write another Gatekeeper story featuring Trixie Lulamoon! Be watching for that when it comes!

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My readers, I need your advice. In the course of this story, I have a sequence of events planned out, but they grow more vague as the plot progresses. I have one point in my story where I can either end Black Queen, Red King and start its sequel, or I can go a little longer, give you one hell of a cliff-hanger, and then continue within the same story. Either way, I want to continue far past that point.

So here's my question: what kind of things do you want to see happen in this story? Where do you want it to go? And do you have any other advice for me? I know that for those of you who have read this far in my story, you are all probably die-hard fans (as the lesser fans probably quit). I thank you for following this story, but I ask that you leave your enthusiasm behind and give me your blunt, honest opinions about everything you like and, more importantly, dislike about this story. That way, I'll know what to do to make it even better.

And I know that, for you future readers, when there is another chapter to go before you get to the end, you don't usually comment, but if you get to this point, stop and take a moment to give your opinion. It helps. It really does. I want to make this story awesome.