Thebe dropped to the stone floor. She focused her mind, the spells that ran through it automatically calculating and tabulating her memories into the preparation of the spell. Even with all her power, and even with two fresh second-generation horns installed in her skull, this type of spell was nearly impossible. Thebe was well-versed in all forms of interdimensional travel; she was deeply familiar with the works of Starswirl the Bearded, as well as the seminal transdimensional theories of Clover the Clever. She had reviewed works by fellow alicorn Twilight Sparkle, and what remained of the heady and obtuse theories of Arcane Domination. Even the schematics and machines designed by the pony considered the mother of cross-dimensional engineering, the adventurer Scootaloo.

She had done that many times before. She could open portals to numerous places from sheer will alone- -to Tartarus, and to the post-nuclear world where the inhabitants looked so much like the Vandrare. This particular portal, however, was nearly impossible to open. In all the time she had lived, and tried, she had never been able to open it. This was not simply a matter of choosing a destination, or knowing a location. Satin Veil had sealed the dimension, separating it from Equestria, locking away the weapon within for all eternity.

That had been the case, at least, until close to eighty years earlier. A pony had opened the gate, and through it summoned the Devourer of Worlds. In Equestria’s time of need, the Blue Fleet had arisen and joined Thebe in the Incursion War. Because of that, Thebe now knew the way in.

She floated closer to her device, and lifted the final piece into position. As she inserted the tiny violet crystal into the center of the generator, she smiled, relishing the irony. The same Draconian cube that had begun Twilight’s descent into madness had given Thebe so many new ideas. Thebe had seen how the ponies in the past- -the last of the Exmoori and burrowing Pegasi, along with all those who stood against Celestia- -had used the sibling of the jewels in Celestia’s own crown and necklace to open the door. It had done them little good, though. Celesita had followed them through, and murdered every mare, stallion, colt and filly in a single surge of blinding magic. Off all the Princesses, Celestia was the one that Thebe admired the most, even if she had been weak enough to deserve the death she had finally received.

“A single indestructible crystal,” said Thebe, largely in her mind, paraphrasing what Celestia once had suggested. “Acting as an anchor, to bind the device to both realms. One that will be immune to the magic of the portal itself.”

She stepped back, and took a breath of filtered, purified air, feeling it rush into her freshly formed lungs. Then she poured her energy into three points around the generator.

The border of the gate immediately lit with surges of red sparks as Thebe’s magic entered it, creating a glowing triangle. The cerorite crystal began to glow- -not with any particular energy, but because it had been superheated to several times the heat at the core of the former sun. Thebe unleashed her processing spells, and felt the universe arouond her bend. The universe of Equestria itself seemed to cry out, but twisted, bending to her will.

There was a deafening explosion, and space itself tore open. Thebe concentrated the spell, driving it into a singular triangular point- -and then tore it open to her desired destination, allowing the resulting vacuum to pull her within.

The portal snapped shut behind her, and Thebe slowly floated to the ground. Her metal-clad hoofs fell upon it, clicking against the material that was neither stone nor wood. She did not need to have eyes to see what was around her.

Above, the sky was eternally black, lit not with a sun but by slow-moving red lightning that would branch and separate like the veins of a leaf before retreating. Around her, she could feel the presence of the forest, now so different than it had been before. The fungoid trees had grown and matured, forming something that could no longer be described as a true forest, but something more like a city- -a city populated by organisms that no Equestrian scientist would even be able to recognize as alive.

It was unclear how much time had passed since the last time she had last been here. There were calculations possible to determine it, but the motion of time within the Gloame was unpredictable. Three centuries in Equestria could become a matter of days in the Gloame- -or millennia. Time could even have moved in retrograde, although that was comparatively rare based on Scootaloo’s notes.

Thebe, of course, simply by the matter of her presence, had locked the time into unison with Equestria. Any powerful magical creature would- -even an especially well-endowed unicorn. This meant, of course, that her presence was already known.

She looked to the ground. All around her, she saw the familiar glow of the shadows, their bodies black but their eyes glowing white, staring in eternal silence, waiting. This time, they did not even bother to try to attack her. They likely did not even know what she was, entirely- -or perhaps they did. Perhaps they even recognized her. They were one of the last mysteries in the world- -even Thebe did not know what they actually were, or why they continued to watch.

Thebe ignored them. Instead, she levitated herself from the ground and began to move rapidly through the channels cut into the forest. Without a proper gate, she had been forced to enter the Gloame randomly. That did not matter, however; she knew where she was going. She was annoyed, however, that she was forced to move physically. Teleportation was not out of the question- -but doing so would be harrowing, and might result in her expulsion from the sealed dimension. Thebe preferred to reserve such an annoyance as a backup, should it be needed.

As she moved, Thebe looked across the land. Technically speaking, it was barren. No true life could dwell in this dimension; the background radiation levels alone were toxic, let alone the storms. The air was saturated with fallout that rained eternally from the sky, and any water that could be found was lethal. Despite this, the dimension seemed to be thriving. The strange plants grew everywhere, divided into unkempt sections by strangely geometric paths of varying widths.

In the distance, Thebe saw why. Far on the dim horizon, in the midst of the small explosions of a radiation storm, stood a massive figure, its stone body asymmetrical and strange. The sight of it- -and the several others that were visible at distance as well- -actually caused Thebe to stop, and engage a long-distance sight spell.

They were proto-golems. Like her own, they were matter that was bound by a spell. Unlike her own golems, however, these had no master. They were not created, but rather born by some unknown process as living, adhesive spells that built their bodies from animate stone.

The tall ones, she saw, were walking. They followed along the paths cut through the forest, where trees gave way to flat, scale-like lichen as wide as buildings. On their bodies, Thebe could see evidence of artificial structures. They were, to her amusement, living cities, housing on their backs thousands of their own kind.

Thebe once again began moving. The societal advancement of the proto-golems was interesting in its own right, but she did not have time to invest into studying them- -especially since she knew that she was not welcome. Although they were well hidden in the forest below, Thebe knew that she was being watched by something more than shadows.

It did not take her long to find the location she sought. Standing in a vast plane, one without the paths of the golem-cities trailing through it, stood several stone pillars. In the center of them stood the tallest, and the widest. In ancient times, it had housed an empty stone castle- -but now the immense stone column stood as a base for a blue-colored citadel, its walls clad in geometric plates of unidentifiable material. A new castle stood, and had stood- -although Thebe knew that it was not a castle at all. In a land where no creature with a sane constitution could hope to survive, there was no need for such a thing.

Thebe approached the tower, examining the sides. Upon finding an opening, she braced herself and entered. She floated through the dark, lightless halls within. Even without light, though, she could still see. What had once probably looked like an empty stone corridor was now overgrown with soft, blue flesh. It seemed to quiver and move slightly as she passed, and she could feel the pulses of air through the tunnel, and the click of organic valves opening and closing. This was not a corridor, but a breathing tube.

The flesh on the walls confirmed that as it shifted. Slits formed and opened, generating eyes that watched her silently as she moved. The clicking, organic valves that controlled branchways snapped closed, the material around them extending into blade-like irises to keep her from moving that direction. She was being led to a specific location, which was acceptable.

Eventually she was led to a large room, one that had been cut from the stone with odd angles that made the floor slant strangely. The blue material grew only in the corners and walls, forming into strange organic shapes that likely served some purpose. As she entered, the material shifted again, the eyes closing.

Thebe suddenly stiffened. For a brief fraction of a second when she entered the room, she realized that there was an unexpected presence. Her vision spell rendered it as nothing more than a pair of bright white orbs floating in the middle of the room, but she knew that what stood before her was far more complex than that. The light itself almost seemed to burn through her mask, into her mind itself. She knew that if she had actually seen it with her real eyes- -assuming that so long in darkness had not left them blind- -she believed that she might have been driven insane.

The light vanished rapidly, though, and a pony appeared on the ground. She stepped forward, into Thebe’s visual field, every step measured and carefully tuned to be as sultry and suggestive as possible.

“Well,” said the yellow pony, smiling, her red, pupilless and scleraless eyes staring hungrily. “If it isn’t little Thebee! Finally coming to visit?”

“Satin Veil,” said Thebe. “Your Unholiness. I was not expecting to find you here.”

“I come and go. And then come some more. But frankly, you know, he really is dull.”

“I would disagree,” said a voice from nowhere in particular. A tendril of blue material flowed across the floor, stoping next to Satin. The liquid bubbled and burst into an array of narrow tentacles that merged and reached, rapidly forming a body. Within seconds, a third pony stood in the room. This one was blue and hairless, his pupils triangular and his teeth oddly sharp. He also bore, it seemed, a circular mark in the center of his forehead- -although the horns that had once adorned his head and neck were no longer present.

“Choggoth Oblivion,” said Thebe. “You are the one I came to see.”

“My name is D27,” said the blue pony. “Or would you prefer I call you by your name? The one you had as a unicorn?”

“Ooh, so threatening,” said Satin Veil, pacing around D27, her the eye that formed her cutie mark continually focused on Thebe. “Come on…it wouldn’t hurt you to loosen up a bit. I mean, you are literally a tentacle monster! Imagine the orgy…I could be a whole army of schoolgirls!” Satin shifted imperceptibly, and was suddenly wearing an extremely short skirt and a pair of white stockings. Her age, it seemed, had retracted about ten years. “No, tentacle-san! Please be gentle!” she cackled in a deep voice. “Oh! No…I know!” She shifted again, and was now dressed as a nun. “You can have a whole convent.”

“I am actually surprised that you are not combusting while dressed like that.”

“Nuns on fire…now that would be something. Or…mayble I could be a Choggoth too. Two tentacle monsters locked in violent embrace…I’m getting wet thinking about it.” All of her eyes suddenly shifted to Thebe, and Thebe felt a pressure on her side. Satin had crossed the room instantaneously and placed her arm around Thebe. “Thebee can join us. Come on, Thebee. Assuming you still have orifices under all those…clothes.” She leaned closer. “The first time the knife goes in,” she whispered, “you’ll ask to die…but don’t worry. I won’t let that happen.”

“You can see what I have to put up with,” said D27.

“You see,” said Satin, stepping back. “D…he can’t be corrupted. Dead too long. His soul died when your people rejected him, forced him away from Equestria.”

“She’s lying,” said D27. “I hold no ill will against ponies. I left by choice. I died by choice. This was the correct choice.”

“But he doesn’t want anything…” whined Satin Veil. “But you.” She smiled. “You want things. And I can give you everything.” She stepped back to where D27’s pony-like avatar was standing.

“That’s right,” said a voice beside Thebe- -a voice she could not help but recognize. Celestia leaned in closer, her smiling face and flowing pastel mane beside Thebe’s head. “You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

“What she says is true,” said another voice, leaning in from the other side. Luna stepped out from the shadows, smiling as her sister was, her starry blue main lighting the darkness of the room with sparkling light. “You are one of us.”

“You’re like our sister,” said Cadence, from behind Thebe, her wide eyes laughing and filled with love. “You’re our family.”

“She’s right,” said the final voice. Thebe looked down in front of her at the smallest of the alicorns. She was, for the first time in so long, face to face with none other than Twilight Sparkle. “I know how much you like magic, and books. Just like I do. I think we could be good friends.”

“You’ve been alone so long,” said Celestia, leaning against Thebe, putting her head against Thebe’s. The other alicorns joined her, closing in on Thebe, surrounding her with hugs that she would never feel through her protective suit. “I’m so sorry that we left you. But we’re here now.”

“You don’t have to hide in that suit anymore,” said Twilight, her wide purple eyes glimmering with hope and compassion as she looked upward.

Thebe felt her robes extending outward from her, stretching across the floor. “I could be with other alicorns,” she said. “Others…like me. I wouldn’t be alone. I could have friends. Love.” She sighed. “I haven’t ever had those things. How about…no.”

The enchanted edge of the robe suddenly burst upward, plunging itself into Celestia’s gut. Thebe watched as the alicorn’s eyes widened, and listened to the sound as her flesh ripped and her internal organs spilled onto the floor.

A red-magic construct formed near Thebe, condensing into a mechanical manipulator. Before Celestia could even speak, Thebe used the arm to take hold of her horn. With a powerful twist, she pulled it free as Celsetia screamed.

“Sister!” cried Luna, tears welling in her eyes. “My dear sister hold- -”

She never got a chance to finish her sentence, or to finish running to her dying sister’s side. Thebe punched Celestia’s horn into the side of Luna’s head. The red construct then moved to the bloody root of the horn, and enclosed around it, powering it with Thebe’s own magic. Luna screamed as her skull began to smoke, and then as her body burst into flames. She took a few steps before the immolation reached her bones, and there was nothing left of her muscles to stand on.

Cadence stepped back, her eyes wide. “Thebe- -please stop! We just want to love you!”

Thebe said nothing, but spawned several more manipulators. Before Cadence could escape, Thebe grasped her wings and limbs. With one quick pull, she tore off both wings and watched in total apathy as Cadence screamed and burst into tears. Then, with much less speed, she applied twisting force to all of Cadences legs, tearing them free of her body and allowing her bleeding and weeping torso to fall into the pool of her own blood.

The last pony was Twilight, who now stood before Thebe, gaping, her eyes pouring with tears. She was not even able to scream, or to run- -but that did not stop Thebe from incinerating her wings with a thought.

Twilight screamed and collapsed on her side.

“Thebe…” she said. “Wh…why?”

For the first time, Thebe actually moved. She took a step forward, toward Twilight. She lifted her metal-clad hoof over Twilight’s head. “Because you deserve it.”

Thebe brought her foot down, and felt Twilight Sparkle’s head collapse under her strength. The skull shattered, and liquid brain matter spilled out onto the ground, joining her eyes, which had been expelled by the force of the impact. Thebe twisted her hoof in the wreckage, feeling the sensation of broken bone fragments and slippery, dying flesh beneath her boot. Twilight’s body quivered for a moment, and she seemed to involuntarily gasp before becoming still.

“Now that’s the spirit!” said Satin Veil, suddenly appearing beside Thebe. Thebe, still filled with homicidal rage, twisted suddenly, pounding her fist into Satin Veil’s chest. It sunk in easily with a sound like splitting wood, and putrid fluid poured out. It was not the sensation of an impact with a living pony, though. Thebe saw that Satin Veil was pale, her hair and skin falling away in places- -what had once been beautiful was now replaced with a mummified corpse.

The corpse turned its eyeless head toward Thebe. “Because I’m in a good mood,” she said, her long, forked lounge lolling from her mouth, “I’m going to ignore that one.”

Then she was across the room, as beautiful as ever, standing next to D27. The bodies of the four alicorns were gone- -but of course, they had never been there in the first place. All four of them had died centuries ago. Their forms were nothing more than extensions of Satin Veil’s will.

“A little excessive, don’t you think?” said D27, sounding somewhat queasy. “I mean…what did Twilight ever do to you?”

“She was weak,” snapped Thebe. “And there is a reason I am alone. There can only every be one true ruler of Equestria.”

“Fair enough,” said D27. His eyes narrowed. “But just so you are aware: every second you are here is a second I have to have a conscious mind. And it hurts. What do you want from me?”

“Something unusual has occurred in Equestria,” she said.

“That is not my problem,” said D27. “And neither is it hers. I left your world in the care of alicorns, and of Harmony. Your world is not ending. It has no need of me.”

“A creature has arrived,” said Thebe. “From beyond the firmament. They are bipedial, and covered in armor.” Thebe extended one of her manipulator projections, its claw spreading out like a hand. Above it appeared a full-size replica of the Vandrare, rendered in translucent red magic. This time, of course, she ensured that the code to the spell was insulated. This one would not come to life.

“That describes many creatures,” said D27. “But unfortunately I am not familiar with any Beyonder species. My knowledge and memory only concerns Panbios and Equestria.”

“This creature,” continued Thebe, modifying her projection to show what she had seen just after she had injured it, “contains a Heart of Order.”

D27’s eyes widened, and then narrowed. “Surely you realize the absurdity of what you are saying.”

“Is this,” demanded Thebe, “a Lord of Order?”

“No,” said D27, perhaps too quickly. “No. Assuming that what you are saying is true, this is most certainly not.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because Lords of Order are by definition not creative. They always enter a plane the same way, through invasion with a Choggoth vanguard and then by activation of a Finality Core. That, and their bodies are made entirely of Order. This creature appears to be a hybrid.”

“A hybrid with a Heart of Order?” Thebe collapsed the image. “Especially since I know that it did not find it. The Heart was constructed by the same vector that induced the transformation.”

“Transformation?”

“Yes,” said Thebe. “That creature used to be a pony.”

D27 made an almost imperceptible gasp. “That is terrible. I feel…badly for that pony. But that is not how a Lord of Order works. However, I do not know what, exactly, this creature is.”

“That’s not entirely true,” said Satin Veil, leaning over D27’s back.

“Satin, we talked about this,” said D27. “You know how much I detest being touched by you.”

“Terminatus six million seven hundred fifty seven thousand nine hundred and thirty two,” she whispered into his ear.

D27’s eyes widened once again. “No,” he said, bluntly. “No. That is impossible. And I don’t like to use that term so lightly anymore- -literally, impossible. They’re all dead.”

“What is the meaning of that term?” asked Thebe.

“It is nothing you need to concern yourself with.”

“Tell me.”

D27 sighed. “Fine. That world is part of my racial memory. Something I was manufactured with, that the Lords of Order gave all of us. Like how we know what the Soth looks like, and how we know to fear it. Its name is listed in our nomenclature…in the same sense that you’re world very nearly became Nil one hundred ninety four, and is currently considered Oblivion seven.”

“And what is so important about this world?”

“It is the only known world to have survived being Ordered.”

“Aside from Equestria,” noted Thebe.

“No,” said D27, shaking his head. “Equestria survived the activation of a Finality Core not once but twice. This is not a small feat. But Ordering only occurs when a Lord of Order descends from the Soth upon the world and consumes all things. Nothing survives being Ordered.”

“But this one did.”

“Not only that. They survived Choggoth Terminatus.”

“Who is?”

“Essentially a god. A Choggoth who has consumed billions of worlds. The others…they say he’s old enough to remember what we once were, before we were…well, this.”

“I’ve met him,” said Satin, waving. “I have an autograph somewhere- -and a pretty big hole in my being. A white Choggoth- -my various toothy orifices quiver at the very thought.”

“But they clearly could not defeat him,” said Thebe, ignoring Satin Veil. “Or else they would have averted their world’s destruction.”

“Yes…but…”

“But what?”

“I’ve done some thinking. A lot of thinking. That world...it didn’t act like a normal one. Normally, a Choggoth weakens a world, a people. That is what Nil and Void did to your world. On that world, though, the people there changed. They accelerated, advanced- -they grew stronger. And I think that might have been Terminatus’s intention. I think- -I think they let the Finality Core activate.”

“Why? If they knew it would kill them- -”

“It didn’t. Their world was destroyed, but they were not. An army of immortal soldiers descended on the Lord of Order…and they hacked it to pieces. They took its magic and its power for themselves. I can still sometimes hear the screaming…”

“Then this creature…it is one of them?”

“No,” said D27, staring into where Thebe’s eyes should have been. “They are dead. Their species is completely extinct.”

Thebe paused. “Creatures that could kill a fully adult Lord of Order…what could possibly drive such a race to extinction?”

“They did. Once the war was won, they began killing each other- -now armed with the power of a Lord of Order. The endless infighting over their dead planet led to their total eradication. This has been confirmed; it is a known fact. But still…”

“What?”

“My form. Not this pony, but the one I normally use…” D27’s body shifted, growing taller and wider, his front legs lifting up until he stood in the form Thebe remembered: a tall, armored biped with two-fingered hands and no real head apart from his insignia at the top of his torso- -that of two equilateral triangles and a small circle. He lifted one of his hands, looking down at it. “It is…this is based on what they supposedly looked like.”

“Looks similar to me,” said Satin. “Hugs?”

“The last time you ‘hugged’ somepony, I could hear the screaming from here,” said D27. He turned to Thebe. “What you are seeing…I believe you. Thebe, you have never lied to me. You have no reason to. But what it is…it can’t be one of them. A remnant? A copy? I do not know.”

“Its actual identity is secondary,” said Thebe. “I need to know how to kill it.”

“Kill it? I don’t know.”

“I fought one,” said Thebe. “The power was…incredible. But I survived.”

“Only because it let you,” sighed Satin, laying on the ground. “They’re vindictive, and playful to the point of sadism. And believe me, I know sadism.”

“You were watching?”

“Of course, Thebee,” she said, smiling. “Ever since my dear, dear Blackest Night gave me a presence on your world, my influence has grown. And that thing? It could have wiped you out in an instant.”

“I doubt that,” said Thebe.

“It depends on whether or not you believe that it is one of these creatures,” said D27. “I know Lords of Order- -and even you would be wiped away at a glance. Ruminate on that.”

“I do love a good ruminate,” said Satin Veil. “All the more stomachs to play with.”

“Satin Veil,” said Thebe. “Do you have enough power to defeat it?”

Satin’s eyes narrowed. “Such a mortal response…”

“Excuse me?” said Thebe, angrily. “I am no mortal.”

“And yet,” said Satin, twisting over a violet jewel that had suddenly appeared in her hand. “If I chucked this through your head, you would die. Then I would make a necrophiliac out of you- -and make D27 watch. Then I will swallow your soul. But I won’t.” The violet crystal disappeared. “The question itself…so droll. For a being like me, ‘power’ is meaningless. What I am able to do is determined not by how strong I am, but simply what I choose to do. And I choose not to help you.”

“You would let Equestria die?”

Satin shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”

Thebe turned angrily toward D27. “And you?”

“No,” he said. “I would be useless. Even if I still had my Order, this is your responsibility.”

Thebe was not sure how to feel about that- -she wanted to be annoyed that they both had defied her, but she actually appreciated that they were respecting her sovereignty. In a way, she realized, this was a meeting of gods- -the rulers of Equestria, Tartarus, and Gloame in one room. Such a thing had never happened before.

“Fine,” said Thebe. “This is just fine. I believe I have underestimated this threat- -and it is a threat. I believe I know what I need to do.”

She turned, preparing to leave, when a pentagram of red light appeared beneath her.

“Let me show you the door,” said Satin, staring into Thebe’s eyes.

D27 watched as Thebe was vaporized, her individual components removed from his dimension and sent back to Equestria. That means of transport must have been incredibly painful, and yet Thebe went without a sound.

“Now where were we?” said Satin, crossing the room. Her body changed, and her size reduced substantially. Instead of a tall adult mare, she was now a filly, her blood-like eyes staring up at D27. In a way, that was even more frightening than her pony form. “How about now?” she said, in a child-like voice. “Or…” she shifted again, growing slightly smaller. This time, her body was covered in yellow fluff. “Pwease mistuh, fwuffy am so hungwy…be nyu daddeh?”

“Satin…please,” said D27, his surrogate body collapsing and returning to the walls of his true body. “I appreciate your visits. You know that. You are, quite possibly, the closest thing I will ever have to a friend. But I will not do those things with you.”

Satin Veil sighed, and reverted to her normal form- -not the yellow pony, but the form that was the closest thing anypony could conceive of aside from her true form, whatever that may be. “I’m actually not interested in you,” she said. “I enjoy two things: to corrupt the souls of the innocent, and to torment the souls of the corrupt. The pitiful fragment that you call a soul…it is neither. It would be boring. Hers, however…”

“Do you have an interest in Thebe?”

“I will admit, I enjoy her progress…oh, if only she were a white alicorn. Like Celestia. Now that was an alicorn. She really earned that nonaggression pact, if you know what I mean.”

“Satin,” said D27, trying to sound serious. “What she said concerns me. Perhaps you should consider recalling your children to the safety of Tartarus.”

“And miss all the fun?” said Satin Veil. “No. I want to see how this plays out.”

D27 was not so sure. He had already nearly destroyed Equestria twice- -once through action, and once through his own failure. Both times, life had been preserved through unity and harmony- -traits that no longer existed in Equestria. He was not sure if they would make it out this time- -but he knew that his role in the story had long since passed. All he could do now was watch.