>You're Anon
>And you just got dumped
>By a gryphon, no less
>Condense was wrong! WRONG!
>Everything went fine for about a month until she just stopped loving you
>That was literally her reason
>That she stopped loving you
>And it broke your stupid heart
>So you're heading back to the Husbando Initiative HQ in the Crystal Empire to cry to Cadance about it
>There has to be a mistake
>"I heard what happened, Anon. I:m so sorry."
"It's okay. There was a mistake, right?"
>"There was. But your case is one of only two."
"What went wrong?"
>"Okay, the heart lead me to a library, and at the time only Gabby was there."
>The name stung
>What a THOT
>"So when you had your... falling out. I looked again and it lead me back to the library."
>Cadance dropped a comic book on the desk
>Great Saiyamare
>"Whoever she is, she's in here."
"You're kidding, right?"
>"I swear I'm not. Only Spike has ever had this situation."
>You look at the comic
>It was some final, unfinished issue of a long comic series
>"It's one of Shiny's favorites. He has the whole series here." she sets a large box of comics on the desk
>"But the last one here has some strange magical properties, I couldn't find who in the comic is for you, but I know she's in there. Magic didn't work inside the comic."
"You're serious?"
>"Absolutely."
>Age 780
>Void dimension
>Realms 6 and 7 face-off
>Match 3
>Majin Magicka vs Karroto
>"I could give you a map, but it wouldn't work in the comic. I can give you a small shard of emerald to help you locate her."
>You look at the comic, the last page was blank
"Uhh, sure." you shrug
>"Whenever you're ready, stare into the final page." Cadance pushes the comic towards you
>Why not
>You take the gemstone and tuck it into your pocket
>You flip to the final page and look at the blank area
>Nothing happened
>"No, I mean really stare." Cadance adds
>You look again, staring holes through the paper
>Everything seems to tilt until you find yourself falling into the white void
>You would scream if you thought it would do anything to help
>You fell out of the void onto the hard surface of a circular plane in space
>"Wait! Who is that?!" someone in the distance shouted
>They were too far away to make out any details, but their voice carried
>"Stop the match!" a louder voice echoed from what you assumed was the seating area
>This stage was immense
>A little blue filly appeared out of thin air a few feet in front of you
>"Greetings, newcomer! You must be lost."
"Very."
>"Don't worry about that, I can help you out!" she stepped closer to you
>Suddenly the scenery changed
>You and the filly were in a viewing box, you could see the stage better now
>"This is the sesting area, you were on the battlefield. Thank you for not continuing to inconvenience all 12 universes."
"You're welcome." you ask with the slightest hint of confusion
>"You don't seem to be from any universe, you can sit with me. I'm Cel-Oh, the omniqueen, ruler of all 12 universes."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Anon."
>"What brings you here?"
>Think of something
"I'm here to find someone."
>The filly looks suspiciously at you
>"For what purpose? Many of these warriors will be gone soon."
>You take out the gemstone and look at it
"Looking for love, apparently."
>"You sure are strange, Anon."
"I'm not -that- weird."
>Cel-Oh smiles in the very slightest
>"If you say so. Feel free to explore the seating area to find whoever it is you're looking for. You're also welcome to return to my viewing box if you'd like to sit with me." she says calmly
>Her two guards allow you to leave the box
>"If I were you, I'd check with universe 6 and 7 first. One of them will be gone after this match."
>You look at the emerald again
>It wasn't doing anything
>You tap it a few times
>Nothing
>You walk along the front of the seating until you get to the universe 6 area
>You're immediately noticed as that asshole who interrupted the important final match
>What looked like a furless Capper gave you a disinterested frown
>"Nice entrance you made there, spoiling Karroto's new technique. Now everypony knows."
"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry."
>"And if Karroto loses this match, universe 6 is disqualified and we all get erased." a reptilian pony chimed in
>"I ought to destroy y-" the bald Capper froze midsentence, looking onto the stage
>A pink pony was standing over the unmoving form of a gray pony
>The kitty went to the edge of the seating and shouted
>"KARRROTTO! GET UP!"
>Other shouted similar things
>You strain to see the gray pony stand back up
>You look around the tense audience of universe 6
>Many of them were already battered from previous matches
>Others weren't even conscious
>You look at the emerald again to no effect
>It doesn't do anything
>You decide to do something stupid
"Hey, do you even work?" you ask it
>"Yeah."
>It talked to you
>How mattter-of-factly it did so almost upset you
"You gonna tell me where she is?"
>"No. I don't know."
"How about I throw you into space?"
>"I don't know."
>You tuck it back into your pocket
>Looking back out to the stage you can see the pink pony stomping on the grey one
>A loud bell rings and both fighters are teleported off of the field
>You see Karroto appear in her seat in the universe 6 bleachers
>Cel-Oh gets on the loudspeakers
>"All ten fighters from universe 6 have been knocked out. Universe 6 is disqualified!"
>The furless cat throws his hands up
>"NO WAI-"
>He was cut short as the bleachers suddenly became empty
>You look around for any sign of them
>Nope, the bleachers were spotless
>You look at the useless emerald again
>You almost ask it a question before realizing it'll probably say it doesn't know
>You walk back to Cel-Oh's box
>She seems surprised to see you
>"Oh hello, Anon." she looks at the field again, "I'm glad you weren't erased too."
"What?"
>"You were standing so close to the bleachers I was afraid I might have gone and erased you."
"Okay."
>"I don't think I'm able to, which captivates me further."
>Cel-Oh got on the speakers again
>"The victory belongs to Universe 7, which moves onto the next round. Up next, Universes 2 and 8."
>Cel-Oh sat quietly
"So, you just erased a whole universe?"
>"Yes."
"Why?"
>"They lost the tournament."
"Right, right, but why do you erase universes?"
>"It's just what I do."
>You watch as the next match begins
"You don't see anything wrong with that?"
>Cel-Oh almost frowns
>"You think like a mortal, Anon."
"I'm just saying, why destroy a whole universe for this arbitrary tournament?"
>"I was planning on doing it anyways, this is to entertain."
"What if you didn't destroy them?"
>Cel-Oh looks deep in thought for a moment
>"Anon, I know every species of creature in all universes. None of them are even remotely like you."
"Thank you?"
>"What do you call yourself?"
>Cel-Oh stares at you blankly, it feels as if she's looking into your soul
"Human."
>"I've never heard of that."
>She reaches out and touches a hoof to your knee for a moment
>"What are you made out of?"
"I don't know."
>"Where did you come from, Anon?"
"I come from a place called Earth."
>"Never heard of it."
>Cel-Oh continued to stare holes in you
>"Out of everything in existence, you're the only thing I didn't create. The thought that there is something beyond my 12 universes both scares and excites me."
"Don't go destroying my universe now."
>"For you, I will try."