The moment Twilight touched the light, she felt herself launch upwards towards the ceiling at an unnerving speed. Had the Tether subscribed to the same laws of the world that she was used to, Twilight knew that she would have hit the ceiling within mere seconds. That moment never came, however, and soon the mare was struggling just to keep her form intact from the constant collisions she suffered from the other energy pulses that surrounded her. The pulses were all seemingly propelled by their own forces towards wherever their destination might be, and while their momentum allowed Twilight to hitch a ride with them, their combined pummeling was almost too much for her to handle.

Not soon enough for Twilight's liking, she soon found herself floating freely in the Void, forced out of the streaming column of energy. Drained of her focus after swimming through the torrent, she barely noticed the dark shape floating behind her as she began to black out. Her only thought as she surrendered to unconsciousness was that she was glad that her spell was still functioning.

When she came to, she found herself laying upon some lush, green grass. Twilight was startled to realize that she could actually feel the grass, this quickly followed her discovery that her form was no longer transparent, and was very much solid. She jumped up in surprise, thinking that her spell had somehow malfunctioned.

"Whoa now, be careful miss Twilight. We wouldn't want you to accidentally fall through the barrier now. I'm still not sure that you would be able to escape if you fell in." Starswirl announced, gesturing towards the nearly invisible bubble that surrounded the little island in its entirety. "It would also be a shame if you fell off. It takes no small amount of effort to redirect this thing, and we would all appreciate it if we didn't have to turn back around just to pick you back up."

Everything on the island was contained within the bubble with the exception of the little peninsula Twilight was now precariously aware of. "What happened? Why am I solid? I thought I was supposed to remain ethereal while casting this spell!?"

"Don't worry, from what I can tell, your spell is still intact. I'm sure you'd be intrigued at just how different some spell casting can be here in the void. Simple spells have unexpected results, if they even work at all. I'm not surprised to learn of some interesting side-effects to your own, vastly more-complicated spell."

"So then what would happen to me if I triggered the recall I set up?"

"I expect it to handle as intended. Your body still remains in our world after all."

"Alright then, now that I'm here what's the next part of this little plan of yours?"

"Well, we've directed this island towards that hub over there. All of the worlds are connected to it, and, as I've mentioned before, I believe that to be the source of the systematic destruction of worlds. I'm afraid you will be stuck right where you are for the duration of the trip though."

"What happens when we get there?"

"That much, I'm afraid, will be entirely up to you. None of the others here can leave this place, so we've never been able to explore the hub."

Twilight looked towards the point that connected to her world, and any others she could see, by a stream of colorful light, which she assumed belonged to their respective tethers. It was quite a sight to behold, even if she couldn't yet focus on their objective just yet. Twilight also realized that, with no real frame of reference, she couldn't really tell how fast they were travelling, or how long this journey would last.

Turning back to Starswirl, "So how long is this supposed to take?" she asked.

"Well as far as I can tell, three days. Time doesn't really pass the same way it does back on our world. I've had to rely on an old hourglass I've found in the house over there."

"Three whole days!? What am I supposed to do over here for three days? I can't even pace properly with so little room!"

"I suppose that the others and myself could assist in alleviating your boredom." suggested Starswirl.

Too stunned trying to think of things she could possibly do to keep herself occupied for three days, Twilight failed to respond to him. She didn't even have anything to read for crying out loud!

"Oh, and speaking of the others, I should probably introduce you to them." Starswirl called out for the island’s inhabitants to come forth and greet their guest. You've met that stallion over there," Starswirl pointed towards the lavender unicorn by the sole tree, "His name is Dusk Shine. The mare coming around the house there is-"

"Trixie!?" Twilight shouted, stunned. "I never thought I'd see you here..."

"The same goes for myself, I suppose. To think that the 'Great and Powerful Sparkle' would be the one to save the universe. Show business too much to handle these days?" Trixie retorted.

"I apologize, she has not taken the loss of her world well." stated Starswirl.

"She thinks that I'm a showpony?" Twilight giggled, "That's kinda funny."

"I don't see what there is to laugh about!"

"Well on my world, the 'Great and Powerful Trixie' is the one who tries to impress others with her feats of showponyship."

"Ha, I knew It! I told you that you reminded me of somepony I met. A showpony who liked to cast illusions!" Dusk fell onto his back, laughing at the memory.

Trixie only glared at the stallion

"Wait, earlier you said that there were three more of you here. Where's the other one?"

"Right you are, Twilight! Over there," Starswirl started indicating that she look towards a basket sitting near the house, "is a tiny draconequus who goes by the name of Discord."

"What's Discord doing here?" Twilight shouted, more than a little alarm in her voice. The harbinger of chaos was the last thing she needed to deal with out here.

"Not to worry Twilight, he's perfectly harmless. When I pulled him from his world into the void, it seems as though he's been stripped of all his powers. Since then, he's done almost nothing but sleep."

"But what is he doing here? And why is he so small?"

"I've heard of the things that Discord has done to some of the other worlds. As for his presence here, he was in possession of an Element of Magic when his world started to disappear. That element is the only thing I've been able to interact with outside of this island, and it's bearers are the only beings I've been able to save. The reason for his current size however, remains a mystery, but I believe it may have something to do with the loss of his chaotic powers."

"Believe me, Starswirl, it's no great loss." Dusk shine added, finally back on his hooves. "Chaos magic was such a pain to deal with. I think he's much more manageable in his lethargic state."

"At the very least, I can actually bear to look at him now." Trixie said, all seriousness intended, as she grabbed the basket in her telekinesis and carefully brought Discord's sleeping form to the barrier.

Twilight noticed how much concentration Trixie was putting into such a simple task. Twilight found it difficult to gauge just how much magic Trixie was using, but assuming that the pale, blue mare was also a bearer of the Element of Magic, she was using an absurd amount of her magic to complete the spell. Soon, Trixie’s efforts brought the basket to the barrier and Twilight found her train of thought interrupted.

"You know, I think he looks better this way too. He’s almost kinda cute." Twilight found that she was unable to pull her gaze from Discord's childlike form.

"My thoughts exactly." Trixie said as she started to coo at the sleeping form, her earlier resentments against the new arrival now forgotten.

Dusk leaned in towards Starswirl, concerned about Trixie's sudden change in attitude, and whispered, "What the hay just happened?"

"I'm afraid the universe may never know, my friend. The universe may never know..."

Author's Notes:

Would you believe that I wrote the rough draft for this around Feb 5th? Some of the similarities between the season 3 finale(which aired on Feb 16th) and the Void here are quite impressive.