Raven happily followed Nightshade out of Maya's bar, excited. "This is gonna kick ass! Where do you wanna go after... whatever you said the place is called?" @Ridley Wolf
Nightshade took flight, heading in the direction of the Everfree. "Azathoth's realm. And I hadn't really thought about it. Maybe a bit of portal hopping?"
"I hope not. The air is filthy, the ponies are ugly and stupid, and the whole damn planet is infested with shaved monkeys."
"They're called humans. They're a subspecies of ape that's evolved near-pony intelligence and has learned how to use tools. There're billions of them, all over the planet, and most of them a pretty damned unpleasant." The forest came into view. "It's been a couple of years, and not everything looks the same, so I'm not sure exactly where this place is. Keep your eyes peeled for a cave mouth shaped like a heart. The portal to a Nexus hub is inside."
"Might not be the same one we were talking about before. Usually the dead guy has to mess with your soul for that one." Raven looked around for the heart-shaped cave.
"I'm not too clear on how it all works, myself. From what I've read, the two main theories are that the Nexus is an infinite void world with multiple hubs, or that the Nexus is actually multiple small dimensional rips that are interconnected by an unknown force." She finally spotted the cave, the entrance nearly concealed by overgrowth. "All I know for sure is that there are ways in, even without magic."
"Oh hey, there it is." Raven turned and flew at the entrance. "Maybe we could go see Tirek up close after. Always wanted to shove a stick up his ass."
"It wouldn't be more than he deserves," Nightshade growled. "But seriously, it is a lot of fun to screw with him. He's gone about half insane after being defeated by the Elements."
"Sounds fun, but probably not a good idea." Nightshade approached some strange runes on wall of the cavern. After carefully wiping away the dust and grime, she produced a small knife and sliced open her foreleg, then touched the open wound to the wall. Almost instantly, the runes began glowing, then vanished as an ancient stone door revealed itself in their place.
"'The waters of discord reveal the path,'" Nightshade recited. "Basically, blood tainted with chaos magic. Like mine." She put her hoof on the door to push it open, then paused. "Are you sure you're up for this? The Nuclear Chaos is an amazing realm, but... let's just say Asmo would fit in there much better than we will."
"I was hoping you'd say that." Nightshade kicked open the door, and the pair were pulled through. They found themselves in what, at first glance, appeared to be an asteroid field. The only light came from an odd conical building in the distance, which glowed with an eerie red light. Around them was the sound of drums, and the thin tuneless whine of alien flutes. Floating just beyond the building was the Daemon Sultan himself, an amorphous blob of shifting tentacles, blind eyes, and mouths full of razor-sharp teeth. "Welcome to the Nuclear Chaos," Nightshade grinned and pointed to the building. "Let's go shopping!"
Nightshade flew beside her, rattling off important facts. "Azathoth is the deity that created this universe. He does not realize it exists, nor does he care. He sees nothing, knows nothing, and cares only to be amused by his accursed eternal musicians." She stopped in front of one of the many mouths. "This realm exists outside of time and space. When we leave, no time will have passed in Equestria since our arrival here. While we're here, our bodies won't age..." She flew into the gaping maw, which slammed shut and swallowed her whole. She reappeared a moment later behind Raven. "And we can't die."
