Echo Of A Dead Universe

Editor's Note: Greetings! This is a short trilogy/quadrology of stories which were my way of giving a fitting end to a roleplay saga a friend and I created over the course of Summer 2012-Winter 2014. These finales center around Katline Storm and Luna, and deal with the end to their universe as they know it. When I rebooted that universe in 2018, it gave me the chance to be creative again- and I wanted to make sure two of the most prominent characters received a fitting end to their stories. It's the least I could do. The order they should be read is: Echo, Queen, Happy, and Hope.

Editor's Note II: You may notice many references to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. That's intentional, as the show was at its peak when we started our roleplay adventures and was primarily set in an alternate universe version of that world which, in all our twelve-year old bravado, combined both the canon and the R63 (Gender-swapped) versions of the show, heavily altered histories for Equestria (Tbf, there wasn't really any history to go on at that time, Season 2 had just entered its final episodes), Fallout: Equestria and many original characters.

Editor's Note III: For reference, Katline Storm was a pegasus enjoying adventures alongside the Mane Six (The gender-swapped versions, anyways), and she fell in love with a member of the team that was brought in to save Equestria from being overrun by shadow demons. That member also happened to be Death himself. When the team moved on from Equestria and into a new dimension, Katline chose to leave to be with him and became Queen of the Underworld. Princess Luna fell in love with the leader of the Shadow Demons, simply named King, and turned him good. Long after her death, King revived her and they helped lead a post-fallout Equestria into a new age. Yes, I know, twelve year olds are weird, alright?

Another morning came to the Queen of the Underworld, another morning in which she awoke far after her husband had risen to tend to his never-ending duties. It was hard, initially, familiarizing herself with just how busy being Death was, however she'd long ago adjusted to their new schedules. Nobody ever said loving a reaper would be easy, of course, and their relationship had proved that time and again, but she wouldn't trade it for any other in the world.

Rolling out of bed, she fetched her royal dress from the wardrobe. The shimmering, white silks had been designed exactly to her liking, with gold trimming lining the hem, lapels, and collar. It was a distinct departure from her husband's black and grey robes, and made her feel like the brightest light in all of the Underworld. Some days, she felt it even beat out her wedding dress. In the back of her mind, she could still hear the voice of her old fashionista friend, Elusive, babbling on about all the intricacies of dress-making and fashion. She'd always meant to visit him again, but her own responsibilities had kept her here.

Making her way through the large, daunting castle hallways, the Queen made for her throne at the same brisk pace she'd kept up for the last two hundred or so years. Routines may have the tendency to become dull, but some were just as refreshing as a shower after a long day, and this was one of them. When she arrived there, she'd begin filling out paperwork, seeing requests, planning her week out, and squeezing in some time with her husband. Perhaps today, she thought, she'd invite Katsy and Dark over for lunch. It'd been almost a month since she'd seen them, and she enjoyed their company. After all, the only boring part about two embodiments of pure insanity was the paperwork they brought in from their killing sprees. As she turned the corner to the throne room, however, she saw the crystalline figure of someone she hadn't seen in decades.

"Shard!" The Queen gasped, picking up her dress to run to him, "What ever brings you to my home? Jordan isn't needed for some mission again, is he?" She asked, referring to her husband's previous time spent serving as a member of the crystal being's interdimensional team of heroes.

Shard shook his head before bowing to her, one which she returned.

"I'm afraid it's something much worse, Kate," He said, rising back up, "I'm here on a matter that I believe may be of some high importance to you."

Staring up at the almost fifteen foot high figure she'd been honoured to call a friend for over several lifetimes, the Queen gave him a puzzled look.

"What do you mean, Shard? Please don't tell me Katsy stirred up some trouble by picking a fight with someone she shouldn't have; the last time was a headache and a half to fix."

Again, Shard shook his head. Instead, he opened his palm to reveal what appeared to be an advanced dimensional travel device- similar to his previous versions, but smaller and more streamlined. Echo, Shard's technical expert, must've worked at least a good six months to improve it to this level.

"I have kept an eye on your old dimension, your home, as you asked," He began, which made her blood instantly run cold, "It is unfortunate to report that, even after suffering heavy loss under the duress of war and fallout, it is now coming to an end."

"What do you mean, coming to an end, Shard? The last time we checked in it had begun to rebuild itself, with help from King and Luna, how could it be coming to an end?"

Shard sighed and knelt down to be as close to eye-level with her as he could be.

"The dimension is beginning to fold in on itself, Kate. It's a rare occurrence in the multi-verse, but it does happen on occasion. King and Luna are currently doing the best they can to bring about a peaceful end for the inhabitants, but soon they'll have to leave as well." He set the device on the ground in between them.

The shock hit her harder than she imagined it ever would. The Queen had long since come to terms with the deaths of those she once knew and loved, as the war had consumed every last one of them by its end, but she had never dreamt of the possibility that the universe they all had once inhabited would die. It had seemed impossible- especially for one who had long ago succeeded the act of death and accepted immortality.

For several moments, the Queen was at a loss for words. Shard accepted her silence and simply waited for her to process what she had been told. In his long life, he'd seen the death of many worlds, accepted the fates of those who he once called friends, and had dealt fatal blows to countless more. Time and experience had dulled his emotions to these events, however he'd never had to deliver notice of the event to someone else. It was an interesting sequence to watch, and he processed each aspect and expression to its minute detail.

The Queen regained herself and swallowed the lump that had welled in her throat.

"So, Shard, why did you come here then? Just to tell me that my old world is dying?" She asked, bitterness slicing through her words towards the glassy body before her.

"To offer you the chance to watch it occur, in real time. It would take only a few minutes, in which we'd see it blink from existence before rebirthing itself in mere moments. Not many sentient beings have had the chance to observe this event before, or will ever even have the chance."

The proposal was, all at once, disgusting, fascinating, exhilarating, and chilling. Could she really endure something like this? Would it be better to watch it or to simply ignore it? When it died, would she be all that was left? Since she was connected to it, would she die too and Shard just wasn't telling her?

All of the questions buzzed around her head and, although she could have them answered, she wasn't sure if she wanted them to be.

A faint bleeping came from the communicator on Shard's wrist, and he stepped back so he could answer it.

From his communicator, fizzling into existence before them, were the holographic images of King, the leader of the Shadow Demons and, at one time, their worst enemy, and Queen Luna, the former princess of the night.

They appeared exhausted and well-worn, with Luna's usually well-flowing hair instead lying flat across her broad shoulders and King's normally stout posture was replaced with a pronounced slouch.

"Hello, Shard," King and Luna began, before turning and acknowledging Kate, "Greetings, Kate."

Their speaking in unison was well in tune for two people who had long considered themselves two halves of the same soul.

"King, Luna. What do you have to report?" Shard asked.

"We have done our best to make sure the populace is prepared for a peaceful passing," Luna began, "It was not easy, and we've had a number of violent outbreaks. Thanks to the Shadow Demons, however, we have been able to restrain and pacify the offenders. My magic will hold everyone in their dreams right until our dimensional link is closed. By then, hopefully, the end will be only moments behind."

"We will have to leave soon," King followed up, "The fluxes are only getting worse. We'll maintain our connection as long as possible."

"Acknowledged, Shard out."

With that, the communication was closed, and Shard leaned down to the Queen of the Underworld once again. She no longer stood on legs of pride and strength, and instead felt as though she was held up by a pair of cement shoes that were pumping dread and fear through her body.

"I understand if you do not wish to accept, but the time has come for you to decide. I had hoped to give you more time, but when dimensions are coming to an end my calculations are only as accurate as an educated guess."

There was only one option, and the Queen dreaded to accept it.

It had been decades since she'd checked in.

It had been hundreds of years since her friends were alive.

It had been almost three centuries since she'd been there herself.

It would haunt her if she didn't take this opportunity.

It would be her last chance to see it.

There was only one option, and Kate knew she had to accept it.

With a curt nod, she told Shard all he needed to know about her answer. He leaned forward and tapped the device and, after a series of whirs and buzzing, she saw her world again.

Three separate perspectives showed her all she could've wanted to see. One on the dimensional scale, one on the world view, and one on the planet itself.

She drifted towards the last, enraptured by the sight of a place she had once called home.

That place had gone by many names over many generations, but Kate would never forget the one she grew up with.

In the world she now inhabited, before its Armageddon, the name had been defined as 'of relation to horses.' It always made Kate chuckle when she heard it like that. It meant so much more than a simple relation for her.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she smiled bitterly as she admired the simple wooden architecture of her hometown, and saw the forest that lay on the outskirts in the distance. Birds, squirrels, and other animals had been her friend Butterscotch's favourite thing in the whole wide world, and they'd always flocked to him whenever he called.

There was a library built out of a tree in the town's center, and Kate recalled how many times she and her friends had gathered in the original, now long lost, library, which had been the home of their bookworm compatriot, Dusk.

The memories were heart-wrenching, and she almost wanted to look away. Instead, the tears in her eyes blurred the images before her. In the far off distance, she could see beams of light beginning to shoot towards the sky. The projections began to shake and become hazy. Glances at the other screens showed the beams of light shooting off from the planet itself, and the dimensional view began to pixelate and warp.

She'd never seen a more beautiful ending to existence.

The first one to go was the planetary view, then the viewscreen before her went dark as the connection was severed.

Kate turned to the dimensional projection. It began to distort and bend like mad, before a bright white orb appeared in its center and spread out. Finally, that orb consumed the dimension before imploding in on itself- taking everything with it.

All she'd ever known was gone.

Her country, Prince Solaris and Prince Artemis, her family's history, her past, her friends, her entire world. It had all been erased from existence, only to continue in her dreams and her memories.

If her heart could've broken, it would have.

Pure chance had ripped it all away from her, and it would never come back again, would never see life again. She was the only thing left, and that fact was what killed her the most.

Then, she saw a bright explosion.

The new universe was being born.

She wanted to grab hold of it and smash it. It didn't have any right to exist. Whatever came in place of her home would never be worthy enough to replace it. How dare the multi-verse play such a cruel joke by destroying hers and creating a new one in its place? How could life be so cruel to one who had experienced so much of it?

The planetary view came back online.

How was it possible for this to happen to her? Even the worst moments of her life didn't compare to this.

Shard began to talk again, something about how the new universe was on a different timescale than the last one. He'd pulled out his calculator and patched through to Echo on his communicator.

It didn't matter to her. Her fists balled up as anger coursed through her veins, her nails digging deep into her palms.

Shard kept talking, something about how it was different from the previous world. For them it appeared accelerated, but there it was evolving at a normal speed. Something about dimensional fluctuations.

Who cared about that? How could Shard be so emotionless on this? He had just as big of a connection to that universe as she did, but he was waving it away in favour of some pointless gibberish. Her body was quaking with an unstoppable fury, and she was ready to punch him so hard she'd crack his impenetrable armour.

Echo mentioned that there appeared to be bleed-overs from the previous incarnation.

That caught her attention, but she couldn't compose herself long enough to question it.

Instead, her rage, grief, and sorrow overtook her and she fell to her knees sobbing. She let out a prolonged shriek that echoed off the castle walls and reached to the farthest corners of existence. In that moment, a terrible realization whispered out a horrible truth to her soul.

That's all she was now.

Katline Storm, the last echo of a dead universe.