[AiE] Disharmony - Part 4

>You are Twilight Sparkle... the normal one.
>Your jaw drops at the sight of... yourself.
>The new Twilight smiles at the surprise of your friends’ reactions.
>"Sorry, I couldn't help but make a dramatic reveal like that to see your faces. It's just great to see you as yourselves again."
>Themselves? Again? What is she talking about?
>Is she really you? But you're you so that can't be right.
>Unless...
"Future... Twilight?"
>The others look at you like you’ve said something insane, which technically you did.
>You couldn't be far off; this Twilight looks almost as terrible as the previous future version of yourself you've seen, when you thought there was a disaster coming.
>Tired eyes, messed-up mane, a small scar coming down the left side of her head near her ear…
>Even that cloak she's wearing has seen better days - there's rips and holes all over it.
>Your doppelganger shakes her head at your guess.
>"No. You’re close, though. I mean, I am you, but not YOU specifically, nor am I from another time. Rather, I should say that you're me, but NOT me or me from another time. This is actually where I'm from, so if anything you'd seem more like the future Twilight you're thinki-"
>"STOP!"
>Rainbow Dash is holding her head like she'd just gotten a headache.
>"Just... urgh! My head is going to explode if you keep talking like that. I can't believe there’s two of them now!"
>Applejack moves to comfort her friend.
>"Yeah, it's mighty confusing. Care to explain yourself, uhhh... Twilights? Why is there suddenly two of y’all?"
>Everyp0ny turns to you and your double.
>"Well as I said, I'll explain everything, but you need to come with me before the guards find us. It will all become clear while we walk."
>You look to your friends, who look back to you with concern on their faces.
>All except Pinkie, anyway. She's happily hopping away after the other Twilight.
"Well... what do we have to lose? We're apparently wanted criminals for a crime we don't know anything about in a Ponyville that has a situation we're utterly confused by. If she has answers, we'd better follow her."
>Rarity starts heading off.
>"I agree. Anything to get away from all this dirt and into cleaner surroundings. This whole place simply looks dreadful."
>Rainbow flies up ahead.
>"Alright, but I'm keeping on guard. Everything is still a little too weird for me."
>Fluttershy slowly starts moving while looking back at the town with Applejack comforting her.
>"Umm... what about Anon and Spike? They could still be in town somewhere."
>"Don't worry 'bout it, 'Shy. That Twilight said she can take us to our friends. Ah'm sure Spike and Anon are there with them."
>"Oh. That's a relief. I don't think I could have handled going back to town with all those guards coming after us."
"You and me both. It's making me uneasy that this Twilight has done something to make her a criminal, though."
>What could she have possibly done to make the Princess send a legion of Royal Guards after her?
>You need answers and you need them now.
>Running up to the front of the pack, the other Twilight seems focused pretty hard on her surroundings.
"Are you... okay?"
>"Yes, I'm just keeping an eye out for any followers, spies or the like."
"Spies? Followers? Who exactly are you?"
>The other Twilight lets out a small giggle.
>"Sorry, I guess I should start explaining. This world that you currently see around you? It's not yours."
>…
>What the…?
"What? What do you mean, 'not ours'?
>The others start listening in as well.
>"You were brought here from your world. This place, to you, is another universe. It’s very similar to yours, but there are key differences which separate them."
>...
>Okay, assuming that's true, it's an incredible relief that you haven't messed with the timeline at least.
>The others are obviously just as confused as you are.
"Uhhh... okay, and what makes you say that?"
>"Yes, I know how absurd that sounds, and believe me, I wouldn't have even harboured such a thought originally. Times became incredibly desperate and I turned to... a source that I never in my wildest imagination thought I'd turn to. Believe me, I'm not exactly proud that I did."
"What source? Discord? Because the very thought of parallel universe travel is a bit chaotic. Or maybe you just plugged a gateway directly into Pinkie Pie and let her own specialized magic take you to wondrous places."
>"Hey!"
>You should probably avoid comments like that while Pinkie is around.
>The other Twilight sighs.
>"Laugh if you want, but I'll prove it to you when we get back to our hideout. The point is, universe-hopping is real and I performed it to bring you here. If circumstances were any different, I'd have never even considered it because it's obviously not a well theorized concept and it took me a month just to test it."
"Wait, you're absolutely serious about this? What did you test it on?!"
>She stops.
>"Oops..."
>'Oops'? What's that supposed to mean?
>She turns to face you all.
>"I, uhhh... well..."
>Applejack stares her down.
>"Spill it, girl!"
>The cloaked Twilight starts trying to avoid eye contact with everyone, rubbing her leg with her hoof. The hardened stares quickly shatter her facade, however, and she sighs in resignation.
>"Okay... The magic required for parallel universal teleportation was extreme. Any theories on the concept were just that: theories. In secret, over the span of a couple months, I started expanding on them, and combining them with other forms of magic. I even took a few pages from Luna's book with dreams and astral projection, the source of the theories of other worlds beyond the stars, which is where I found that there truly were other universes."
>Everyone is still listening, doing their best to understand it.
>You are putting everything together in your head as well.
>"Using these combinations of magic and discovering the other universes, I searched and monitored separate universes for days. Yours happened to be among the few that I found to be the closest in similarities. In fact, it seems exactly the same except for key differences, like I said. So I started trying to expand on teleportation magic so I could test bringing something over - inanimate objects, like a chair that nobody would notice, or a bush, or a rock, anything..."
>The distress in her voice is starting to hint that she's done something she wasn't supposed to.
>"But... my desperation in this situation was preventing me from concentrating and thinking straight. My goal was to try and get help from the Elements of Harmony from another universe, and that remained on my mind the whole time. So... when I started testing the spell, I MAY have sort of... accidentally... brought you here for my first attempt.”
"WHAT?!"
>The others are startled and confused by your sudden surprised outburst.
"How, over the course of a couple months, did you manage to bring all six of us here, our Elements included, using an extremely questionable teleportation spell?! What would Princess Celestia say?!"
>"I know! I know! I shouldn't have even attempted something of that magnitude. There are so many risks to take into account. A literal INFINITY of possibilities could have occurred. I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! I haven't slept well in months, nop0ny here has. I told you how desperate I was for help, but that still wasn't keeping me focused on the certainty of your safety!"
>She falls to the ground and starts crying while confessing this.
>Rainbow Dash just shakes her head to snap out of confusion.
>"Can SOMEP0NY else please explain what the hay she's talking about?!"
>Rarity looks at Rainbow out of the corner of her eye.
>"We were guinea pigs in an experiment that shouldn't have been attempted. We're currently lucky to still have our skin on us after that, let alone surviving it."
>"WHAT?!"
>Pinkie, Applejack and Fluttershy suddenly grow a look of concern.
>Applejack aggressively moves up to the guilty Twilight.
>"And WHY exactly did ya' do it in the first place?! What's this help that y’all apparently need that ya had to risk our lives?!"
>You're still taken back by the very thought of traveling to another universe, unscathed, that you had to sit down.
>The other Twilight wipes a few tears from her face and gestures upwards towards the sky.
>"You've noticed how it's been a couple hours since you got here, and the sun still hasn't set completely?
>You all nod.
>"It's been like that for 8 months.”
"8... MONTHS?!"
>She nods.
"H-how?! Why?! What is Princess Celestia doing to not have let the sun set for 8 months?!"
>"That's exactly why I'm desperate for your help. Princess Celestia - OUR Princess Celestia - she's..."
>More tears start streaming down her face.
>"She's been turned to stone..."


-Meanwhile…-
>You are Anonymous, a non-smoker, yet really wishing you had a cigarette or something right now.
>You and Spike continue to sit in the Library, still in complete shock that Twilight and her friends just vanished.
>The gem she was using is still on the floor, still leaking the rainbow steam from its crack.
>It’s not exactly something you want to mess with; it could be like an unstable grenade or something.
>With no idea what course of action to take, the only reliable thing you could do was inform Princess Celestia.
>After detailing the letter with precisely what had happened, from Twilight's experiment with the Elements to their sudden disappearance, Spike sent the letter and had burped out a reply a couple minutes after.
>She said "This is grave news indeed. I'll make my way to Ponyville immediately. I should arrive within three hours."
>This was two-and-a-half hours ago, and every passing moment is making you stress more and mo-
*knock*knock*
>Oh, there you go.
>…wait, she's the Princess; why did she knock?
>Spike runs over to open the door, and there she is in the flesh.
>"Hello, Spike. Your letter sounded urgent so I felt I should come and see for myself."
>She lets herself in and takes in the surroundings, noticing you on the stairs.
>She nods in your direction.
>"Greetings, Anonymous."
>You return that nod.
"Sunbutt."
>At least you can calm down a little more with her here.
>Hell, your arse has been so clenched over the situation, you could probably head to the toilet and release the krak-
>…
>Waaaaaiiit a minute...
>What the hell did you just call her?
>She's looking at you with an eyebrow raised.
>Oh fuck, you said it out loud.
>"What did you-"
"NOTHING!"
>"Did you just call me-"
"I said nothing!"
>"...Sunbutt?"
>Fuck.
"NOPE!"
>Okay, the nearest window is at your 10 o'clock, slightly to her right.
>Maybe while she's distracted by that comment you can dive out and run for the hills after that disrespectful display.
>"*snicker*"
>…the hell?
>Oh hey, she's trying not to laugh... Good! Now's your chance!
>"'Sunbutt'... that's an interesting thing to call me."
>The fact that she tried not to laugh and is commenting on it is not helping your balls lower from your pelvis.
>"Relax, Anonymous. I'm not mad, though we will have a talk about that later."
>Great.
>Spike is still in the room, half-laughing, so she must've just said that so he doesn't overhear her plans to behead you later.
>Oh well, you'll head home later and try drowning yourself in the bath just to get it over with.
>For now, Twilight and the gang need help.
>Celestia walks over to the cracked gem on the floor and notices its rainbow steam leak.
>"I take it that this is the gem she was using for her experiment?"
>Spike walks to her side.
>"Yeah. When they disappeared, it dropped to the floor and cracked."
>"Hmmm. The harmonic magic from the Elements was a little too much for the gem. Even if it didn't crack when it hit the ground, it likely would've been too unstable for Twilight to study."
>Her horn lights up as she lowers her head to the gem’s resting place.
>"However..."
>The gem suddenly flashes and the steam leak stops. The crack is gone.
>"...the magic that had been seeping from it for the last few hours has settled it down enough that it's stabilized. The gem is infused with a small amount of the magic from the elements. It seems the small amount Twilight tried to use was still too powerful for a simple gem to contain."
>The hell is she going on about? Did she just come all this way to look at the fucking gem?
>"Now then. Where were they positioned when this sudden 'flash of magic' happened and they disappeared?"
>Spike moves over to the space on the floor where Twilight was standing.
>"Twilight was standing here, and the others were equally spread in a circle surrounding the gem."
>Celestia moves over towards Spike and her horn lights up.
"If it helps, everything looked like it was going fine until the end. The gem had just been hit by the rainbow laser before the purple electricity appeared and zapped them away."
>Ahhhh, you and your simple terms for magic.
>Screw Twilight and her far superior understanding and detailed descriptions.
>"What do you mean 'purple electricity'?"
"That's what it looked like. It looked like a small purple lightning bolt that was crackling around her Element and stretched to the others before it expanded in width, blinding me and Spike… then it went away and took them with it."
>"Strange... that doesn't sound familiar to me."
>Awesome.
>That's the most reassuring thing you've heard all day.
>She's moving around in a circle, along the path that they were positioned.
>You guess she's searching for traces of it in the air or something... Beats following footprints with a magnifying glass.
>"I can't feel much here. There's the presence of magic from the Elements being used, but not much el-... wait..."
>Her eyes are darting left and right.
>"There's something here. Very faint."
>If she just tells you what you already know, then it'll be hard to keep in that urge to cross your eyes and shout 'duuuh'.
>"It's... familiar, yet... very unfamiliar at the same time."
>Wut?
>"...Twilight. This magic came from Twilight, but... at the same time, it didn’t? How can that be... and what magic is this?"
"I'll call Batman; clearly the Riddler is behind this."
>That was dumb, they don't even know who Batma-
*whack*
"Argh!"
>A book just came flying from across the room and hit you squarely in the face.
>Spike is glaring at you, obvious anger and annoyance in his eyes.
"The hell?!"
>"Shush! The Princess is trying to concentrate!"
>...
>Okay, yeah, you're being kind of a dick in a dire situation, nobody needs that.
>Celestia gives Spike a quick look of disapproval before continuing to concentrate.
>"The magic is a form of teleportation magic, but... very different from the type we know. It's very advanced, very... unknown. I've never seen anything like it... and considering how much of it I looked into for your sake, Anonymous, in order to better understand how you were brought to this world, that says quite a lot."
"Oh Jesus, you don't think that stuff repeated itself and they got sent to my world, do you? 'Cause that's not a good thing; you either need to bring them back now or send me after them!"
>Way to stay calm, Anon.
>"Doubtful. I'm sensing this kind of magic originated from Twilight, but... it can't be. There's no magic trail being led back to her."
"Trail? How does that work?"
>She looks at you like you're an idiot.
>A beam of light shoots off her still-glowing horn in a straight line and hits you directly in the arm, burning you slightly.
"Ow! Why?!"
>"That tiny beam of magic traveled from myself to you. Small bits of magic still linger in the air between us, completely unseen to the eye, but detectable by a skilled Unicorn’s horn. The trails are faint depending on the amount of magic used, but we can track them back to their source."
"And you had to shoot me in the arm to tell me that?"
>"I thought a small demonstration would help you grasp it better, I apologise. These are things ponies learn very early on, Anonymous. It's how some of them can determine the identities of liars and criminals if magic had been used. I'm surprised you didn't know that."
>Oh, for the love of...
>Is she going to suggest a kid’s book to you as well?
>Her horn shines a little brighter and the small burn and pain in your arm is gone.
>"I can detect that this magic is indeed Twilight's, but it's not FROM her... how can this be?"
>God, you hope she's only asking herself that.
>She's standing there, gears obviously turning in her head as she thinks over every possibility.
"Maybe she's got a long-lost twin?"
>Celestia sighs at your stupid comment and continues thinking to herself.
>Well, if you're gonna be stupid, may as well go all out.
>You mess your hair up a little before you position your hands in front of you as you clearly state:
"Aliens."
>You don't even care if they get that, or what gets thrown at you now, it was worth it.
>...
>She's looking at you wide-eyed.
>Okay, you take it back. Not worth it!
>She suddenly rushes over to the bookshelf, looking for something.
>For the love of fuck, please don't say she's thinking it was aliens...
>"Ah!"
>She pulls a blue book off the shelf and gives the title a good look with a slight cringe on her face.
>You go over to read it.
>There, on the cover in a silvered text, it reads 'The Multiverse Theorem'.
"Ohhhhhhhh dear..."
>Celestia looks at you.
>"My thoughts exactly."


-Back in Ponyville #2…-
>You're once again Twilight Sparkle, stranger to this familiar world.
>And the state of this world now suddenly makes sense.
>Everyp0ny is looking at your double, still sobbing on the ground, with shock and disbelief.
>Celestia... turned to stone?
>One of the most powerful beings in Equestria...
>It would have taken extreme amounts of magic to accomplish such a feat.
>Discord was imprisoned and released from a stone form with the Elements of Harmony, but what else could possibly do that?
>Surely the Elements in this world weren't used against her...
>You're about to ask, but Rainbow Dash is the first to break the silence.
>"How did it happen?"
>Alter-Twilight gets up and wipes the tears from her face, looking at her surroundings and gesturing you all to follow.
>"It's a long story, and I'll tell you all of it, I promise; there's just too many saddening details all at once that you won't be able to wrap your head around, and I can't deal with it. Right now, we need to keep moving. We need to find my Rainbow Dash and Applejack; they came with me to look for you when I realized I accidentally brought you here. Let's just say, for now, that Princess Celestia was caught off-guard while she was dealing with an important matter."
>Saddening details? Caught off-guard? What in Equestria happened to this world?!
>You want to press her for more information, but decide against it.
>She promised to tell you everything so you just have to trust her and keep moving.
>Rarity moves to your side to whisper to you.
>"Do you think she's telling the truth?"
"I'm not sure. I find it hard to believe that Princess Celestia could simply be 'caught off-guard', but if she really is turned to stone, then it would explain the sun not setting completely."
>Rainbow Dash hovers above you.
>"Something bugs me though. She said it's been like that for 8 months... wouldn't Princess Luna have taken the task of setting it? She should have the power to raise and lower the sun like Celestia could, right?"
>That IS very odd...
>Where is Luna in all of this?
>Alter-Twilight suddenly speaks up.
>"Wait..."
>Everyp0ny freezes.
>She's frantically looking in all directions, listening intently.
>You all start listening as well, not hearing anything.
"What is i-"
>"Shh!!!"
>She pulls out another of the round sacks that was used to distract the guards and readies herself to throw it.
>Everyp0ny is visibly worried about what Alter-Twilight thinks is around, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity huddling close together.
>A twig snaps to your left, you start charging your horn ready to defend yourself and Alter-Twilight prepares to throw the sack.
>"Settle down, ah'm not a guard. It's just me, Twilight."
>It’s Applejack!
>Or rather... it’s this world’s Applejack.
>She's wearing a cloak similar to Alter-Twilight's, but hers is darker-coloured, in slightly better condition, and the hood still sits over her head instead of the hat that your Applejack has.
>Alter-Twilight relaxes, as does everyone else.
>Pinkie appears particularly excited to meet a new Applejack, rushing over to hug her.
>"*SQUEEE*! Another Applejack! I can't believe I'm getting to meet doubles of my best friends!"
>Alter-Applejack looks confused and slightly bothered by the hug, but then a smile slowly grows on her face.
>"Uhh... yeah, it's... great ta' see you too, Pinkie."
>Applejack's face seems unsure of what to make of her duplicate, and Alter-Applejack seems to be trying to take in the fact that you're all here. Ponies she knows suddenly doubling…
>"So... you were tellin' tha' truth when ya said ya accident'ly warped in more Elements..."
>Alter-Twilight lowers her head.
"Wait, you didn't know she was doing this?!"
>Alter-Applejack shakes her head.
>"We’ve been wonderin' what Twilight had been so focused on these past few months, we've barely seen her. She wouldn't come eat with us, she wouldn't tell us what she was doin'... Honestly, we thought she was still just distraught over tha' situation with tha' Princesses and was runnin' herself ragged findin' a way to fix it."
>Your Applejack moves closer to her alternate double.
>"'PrincessES'? You mean Princess Luna is... as well...?"
>Alter-Applejack turns to her Twilight.
>"You didn't tell them yet?"
>Alter-Twilight shakes her head.
>"I told them about Princess Celestia, but the rest I said I'll tell them about when we get back to camp."
>Fluttershy speaks up.
>"So... Princess Luna is... turned to stone, too?"
>Alter-Twilight nods sadly while Alter-Applejack stares at Fluttershy…
>…a little strangely, actually, like she doesn't even believe Fluttershy said that.
>Your Applejack speaks again.
>"So what DO you know about us bein' here?"
>Alter-Applejack is still just staring at Fluttershy.
>It's becoming a little more disturbing by the second.
>Fluttershy notices and starts looking around for anyp0ny to tell her why the new Applejack is just looking at her, before trying to hide behind her mane.
>Applejack starts waving a hoof in front of her duplicate’s face.
>"Hey, hello? Anyp0ny home?"
>Atler-Applejack snaps out of it.
>"Huh, what? Who?
>"Ah' said, what DO you know about us bein' here?"
>"Oh, uhh... nothin', really. Twilight just came and charged through tha' camp, panickin' about a test goin' wrong. Yelled for me an' Rainbow ta' follow. Said somethin' about accident'ly bringin’ in doubles of us. Me an' Rainbow were confused but then she told us ta' split up an' look, so we did. Just lookin' for anything, really."
>She looks back at Alter-Twilight.
>"Why'd you do it, Twi? What reason could you have ta' bring in more of us? We've tried everything, what can more of us do that we couldn't?"
>Alter-Twilight looks back up.
>Before she can even say anything, another voice comes from behind all of you."
>"It's because she's not thinking straight."
>You all turn to see Rainbow Dash’s double.
>She has a small band-aid across her left cheek and is wearing a black bodysuit, with only her head exposed. She doesn't even have her wings outside of the suit.
>Walking through your group, she gives each of you a nod.
>Except for Rainbow Dash, whom she cracks a smile at.
>And Fluttershy, who she stops to stare in the same way as Alter-Applejack did for a few seconds before moving on.
>"Right, Twilight? You've been going at it for months now, only sleeping when you're exhausted enough that you drop. Think about it right now, there's no reason to have brought them here, right?"
>Alter-Twilight gets annoyed at the comment.
>"No, I did plan on doing it eventually, just not this soon. The spell was untested and had so many risks with it."
>Alter-Rainbow is taken back by this.
>"Why?! Like AJ said, there is nothing they can do that we haven't tried already! All you did was endanger them with the spell, and now they’re in danger just by being in this world! What WERE you thinking?! What would Celestia say?!"
"ENOUGH!!!"
>Everyp0ny is startled by your outburst and turn to look at you.
"Look, what happened has happened, we can't change it now. She says she's desperate for help, which is why she considered bringing us here anyway. Granted, she brought us here too early, which was not a good idea, but it's done and we're okay. What I want to know is, why? There's no sign or sound of guards nearby, so now is as good a time as any to explain it, and we're NOT moving from this spot until we know why we're here!”
>Everyp0ny looks to your duplicate, including Alter-Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
>She sighs, looking down with her eyes closed, defeated.
>"Fine. Which part do you want to know?"
"Everything! Why are the Princesses turned to stone, who's behind it, why are you in hiding and why do you think we can help?"
>All eyes are on Alter-Twilight.
>She brings her head back up, looking you straight in the eyes, looking like she's fighting back tears as she explains.
>"There's a crystal. It holds power currently beyond measure. The magic it radiates can't even be harnessed or countered by Unicorns, or ponies in general, or I assume it can't at least because the time I've had with a fragment of it is giving me nothing. He has been able to use it, though. I don't know how, or why, but he'd learnt how to use it over the last 2 years."
>She gets up and starts pacing.
>"My magic was ineffective against it, Princess Celestia's magic wasn't effective, and neither was Luna's. When Celestia went to confront him about what he'd done, he was afraid he'd be banished or worse, so he froze her in stone... I don't know if it was by accident or not, but it's done.
>Alter-Rainbow and Applejack lower their heads in sadness as the story continues, everyp0ny else listening intently.
>"Princess Luna wanted justice for what had happened to her sister, so she went to hunt him down. Unfortunately, she met the same fate as Celestia, probably more intentionally because of how threatening she was. The only things we haven't used to try and counter this magic are the Elements of Harmony, and ours are... damaged."
>She turns back to your group.
>"That's why I brought you here. We needed you, and your Elements. I know how risky it is, and I can't even express how sorry I am, but as I've said, and you've heard and seen, we're extremely desperate."
>That's... unbelievable. Celestia and Luna, both powerless... against a crystal?
"You said 'He' figured out how to harness the power in the crystal... Who's 'He'?"
>The 3 duplicates tense up as Alter-Twilight names him.
>"Anonymous... Our world is like this because of Anonymous."



>Up in the Canterlot Castle, Alternate Anonymous is sitting on the stairs of the main hall.
>Head being held up by his hand over his eyes.
>None of this was meant to happen.
>Somehow he came to power after accidentally incapacitating Celestia and Luna.
>Well, not really 'came to power', but his demands are simple: find Twilight so he can be teleported home.
>It doesn't feel right to take over or desecrate the throne with his presence.
>No sense in making things worse than they already are.
>The Royal Guards simply want the Princess freed and have no alternative, so they do as he says.
>It's not like they can do anything against him anyway.
>A white stallion Unicorn enters the room and makes his presence clear.
>"Anonymous?"
>"Yes, Shining?"
>"My guards returned after getting a signal of disturbances in Ponyville. They claim to have met with Twilight and her friends, who were willing to travel back to Canterlot.
>"Mm. And?"
>"Smoke came from the ground and a purple blur and light within let them escape."
>"Why would they escape when they were willing to come here?"
>"I'm not sure, but the witnesses in the town said that among the group, they saw a second pony that looked a lot like Twilight... and another that looked like Fluttershy."
>"..."
>"It can't be the same one."
>He raises his head to look at the captain.
>"Find them. I want to know everything."