How old is Ponyville?

by Mightyfinemorning

Chapter 3

Even Discord’s magic could not have left Twilight in her current shocked state; whatever she was expecting as to be the worst, it was certainly not Princess Celestia saying that there was a book which explained everything. Her words kept ringing in Twilight's ears. Every sentence she had clearly heard; but when she put them all together, she faced a giant beast her mind could hardly comprehend, an amalgamation of strangeness beyond measure. A book about everything-could such thing ever exist?

Her mind was quick to draw a conclusion. This time, Twilight cursed herself for knowing so well. The answer to everything. The book of everything, like a database, that’s how. All of her life and her memory was inside this book she was looking at it. The more she thought, the more it became clear to her, though she never wanted to admit. She had to be wrong. She had to.

The disturbing possibilities quickly emerged, clutching her tightly. Twilight thought her whole body had collapsed to the floor, her legs unable to support the unbearable burden that suddenly appeared. “I mean, if the world is the product of this book, then that means…” She could no longer feel the floor under her, as if she was falling through a bottomless pit.

Her mind was working like a runaway train going downhill, constantly accelerating in a way she could no longer control. The heavy imaginary stone inside Twilight’s stomach now felt increasingly real. “I mean, if somepony-or something-changes what’s written there-“ She didn’t dare to finish her words. Or to be more exact, she just couldn’t. She felt hard to breathe, even though she was sitting still, inhaling the sweet magically purified air of Canterlot Palace. She also felt her body shaking uncontrollably, though the room was pleasantly warm, the piercing cold impenetrable beyond the palace walls and the barriers the guard unicorns maintained all day. The soft cushion she was laying against she thought it as a hard rock full of small sharp spikes impaling her skin, boring tiny invisible holes in her body. “Then-then-“

The world also changes. Princess Celestia did not speak, but Twilight heard the voice from somewhere. Perhaps it was her mind making the most reasonable conclusion. What we call reality is merely a fiction, a figment of imagination. Wasn’t it? The voice said.

No. It can’t be. It mustn’t be. “I’m wrong, right? Like last time, I’m just overly worried, right? Pinkie, you do think right now I’m too much stressed…right? Driving myself crazy with worry?” The familiar feeling of helplessness came back to her, a definite step one of her breakdown process. Twilight knew, and yet, she was unable to do much anything about it. She wished, wished very sincerely that Princess Celestia would reply ‘Yes.’ Even a simple nod would was going to suffice.

It was-it had to be a very shocking joke. That was how Twilight wanted to believe, despite knowing the Princess’ look said otherwise. If it were not, she could not think of the implications it would have on her life. Her words were beyond what she expected to be the worst; a pony had to always watch out for unexpected danger, which was the reason Twilight thought that she had always to be prepared, making sure to act calm even in the case of an emergency.

She was expecting a light drizzle. The emergency came like a heavy storm that destroyed everything in its path. She wasn't ready for this.

Twilight just stared at the book, completely at a loss what to do, her mouth agape, wide-eyed, the time seemingly stretching to infinity with her stuck in her current position, ever unable to escape. Of all the worst groundless fears she were imagining, she never expected this situation. Her mind had already worked out of which she considered to be the implications of Princess Celestia’s words. She was thinking it right now, though she was unable to speak. Ideas spawned their offspring; each one was more terrifying than its antecedent, multiplying beyond her control until she thought her heads would burst from being overloaded.

That actually seemed to be the most desirable option for her, though it never happened. Twilight realized she was still there even after what felt like aeon, trying to understand the Princess’ words and the ramifications.

How old was Ponyville? She thought she was going to hear a lengthy lecture from Princess Celestia about the subject, possibly about its complex history and why most books said that it was 76 years old while some said otherwise. But no, what was waiting for her was the terrible truth which she should have never come across. It was better if she could just forget all about it. Pinkie once said how it would be ‘fun’ if the world they all lived were actually inside somepony else’s book. Twilight laughed it off, never expressing her concern; but deep down inside she didn’t like it. Or rather, she was scared and deathly afraid of it. To think the entire world she believed in was just the result of the book she was facing right now, and she merely a puppet designed to perform in the world she thought to be real, but which was not; the idea could never be ‘interesting’. It was never comforting, and was bound to be the worst nightmare she didn’t even dare to think about, storing the idea towards to the deepest part of her mind, intending never to be reminded of it again. Until now.

How was the world created? Why was everything made in its current form? Many ponies have asked the question before. It was natural for a pony to wonder about everything, of how the world came into being and such, to seek the very origin which started it all; various theories were proposed. There might have been an ancient being which was powerful enough to shape the world to its current form, which many thought to be credible. But nopony actually knew it for sure.

Actually, the answer was so simple; it was there in Canterlot all along, and she was facing it right now: the book. The world was actually made up, and everything began to exist only after it was written on the book. The book controlled everything. Her entire life was dictated by a force she could never betray, but to obey and follow; it would have made a worst nightmare she could face, except that she was actually inside it, and could never hope to wake up, because it was the reality she was living in. What was she going to do? What could she do? Activate the power of elements to something that was not actually evil at all, but just the principle making up the basic structure of the world?

“So I was not wrong. Until now.” Twilight said. She still prayed for the tiniest possibility of Princess Celestia saying this was all a joke, though she couldn’t ever expect her to be so cruel. But cruel joke she would have greatly welcomed it.

“Until the book said otherwise.” The Princess finally spoke.

Twilight breathed slowly and deeply, trying her best to continue her respiratory process. “I don’t know what to think of this, Princess Celestia. I really hope I’m dreaming. But the more I hope, the more I’ll probably realize that it’s not going to happen. I think this must be real. A fictional reality. We may all live in this book then. We are like-no, we are fictional characters inside the book, are we not? I hope it’s not, but there’s no way I can see it otherwise.” Twilight said. She noticed the Princess’ face not changing even a slightest bit from her previous concerned look.

The mood changed too suddenly and very dramatically-from a simple inquiry to realizing the ultimate truth, which in Twilight’s perspective was better left alone, never to be discovered. She should have never come to Canterlot. She shouldn’t have sent the letter at all. She was curious, wanted to investigate the peculiarity she had discovered. It was probably written on the book all along, and so it happened, Twilight acting as the book said. Her every action and thought she was influenced by the book.

“Twilight, I know how you feel. I am sorry. I wish you’d never come to know this. I tried to keep it secret to all, even to my beloved sister. Though she came to know the truth as time passed; eventually, she accepted the fact. But still, it was really hard for her to accept it.” Princess Celestia sighed, the sound of a great darkness descending down on Twilight and shrouding her.

“If it said on the book, there is no way to avoid it…is there?”

Princess Celestia shook her head.

“The storm, Ponyville history, me finding out this truth. All because the book said so.”

Princess Celestia nodded.

Twilight thought she was going to cry, but strangely did not. It was strange, because she thought her crestfallen state was not much different from the time when Discord had succeeded in converting her friends away from her. The same sense of desperation seized her, this time only greater. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she could not do much about it. It was not a matter of difficulty; there was no way she could oppose the book. Discord could have been defeated; he was evil, as he was the Spirit of Disharmony, against Equestria and the power of the Elements. What she and her friends had been facing was the chaos as opposed to the order. Though it was difficult, the fact that the Draconequus lie encased in his stone statue was the definite proof that he could be overcome.

But what if they were facing the ultimate order itself, ordaining everything from the very beginning till the very end? The power of the elements was useless; it had power because the book said so. Nopony could challenge its maker, the one who made everything to its current shape, and which probably had the power to shape the future as well, knowing everything in advance.

“It can’t be that simple. There has to be a reason for everything. But this is…so silly. A book. We’re here because of this book. We’re under its power.” Twilight said. She thought she was repeating her words. It became more difficult to remember. All she could think was the book. Of how it could change everything without she even realizing it. Suppose, she thought. Suppose if the ‘author’ of the book-whoever she was-fixed what was written there? Was the world going to change?

No, she needed not to make any suppositions at all. The book hard already demonstrated it for her. Of course the world could change, and it already did. Ponyville was now 76 years old instead of hundreds, and everypony-or at least most ponies-thought it to be that way from the start. Princess Celestia said that the book explained why everything happened. From the Princess' words Twilight’s logic quickly deduced that the book contained the record of everything, literally everything of the world.

Anything could change, including her entire life without she even realizing it.

Waking up tomorrow she may have never have been Twilight Sparkle at all, but something entirely else. Perhaps a dragon, a tree, or something she could have never dreamed of. She could never remember her friends, including Pinkie, who always told her she would be there for her.

But how, she wondered. Twilight chuckled. “So, I now know my whole life is subject to this book, like everything else I know. What happens if it is destroyed?” It was probably the feeling of utter desperation that made her bold. What was the point of everything? The book was going to determine her future, her feeling, and everything that was part of her being.

“It cannot be destroyed.” Princess Celestia quickly replied. “Not even with the fire from the Sun. I have actually tried with the pieces taken out, just to make sure. It was intact.”

“At least I don’t have to worry about suddenly disappearing then. Oh wait, what if somepony just erase my name? Then I am gone forever, right?”

“No, that cannot happen.”

“How do you know? Did you try it out?” Twilight stared at Princess Celestia. Step two: showing aggression. Twilight thought it with a bitter heart. “Sorry, Princess Celestia. But I really don’t know how to react to this. I feel…so powerless. Everything I do is not what I exactly do, but what the book commands me to do.” What was the point? The voice echoed inside her head.

“I understand. No need to apologize, my dear student. Luna had the same look on your face right now when I told her the book. It was more than a thousand years ago-she read the part where it said she was going to be Nightmare Moon.” Princess Celestia became quiet for a moment. “She was shocked beyond words, of course. It was bound to be tragic. After managing to gather herself, Luna solemnly vowed that she would never become Nightmare Moon, nor ever succumb to the darker part of her mind.”

“But she could not.” Twilight said. “Because the book said so.” She felt sick saying the word over and over. ‘Because the book said so.’ The word, nevertheless, seemed so powerful, rendering her effort to not to utter it useless. The book was what made things happen, its power dangerously randomized. There could be no way to fight that.

Comments

[Lamaar]

How positively Lovecraftian, that one's life might be rearranged at the whims of a higher being. Do you worry about the implications of writing this?
Also, I noticed a couple of typos:
"Princess Celestia did not spoke[...]"
"From the Princes’ words[...]"
"Oh wait, what if somepony just erase my name on this book?"
I would personally be terrified if the fabric of reality contained typos.

[Mightyfinemorning]

777031 Thanks for pointing those out. By the way, what do you mean by 'the implication?'

[Bronydiamio]

Very very well written with it retaining twilights personality and being suspenseful

[Dusty Sage]

Not to go all meta on everyone, but these are precisely the conditions under which canon exists; and canon can be changed, characters and scenes retconned, Derpy underped, and we have always been at war with Eurasia.

Which the author has undoubtedly noticed, but chose not to beat us over the head with it.

[Alex Warlorn]

Anything could change, including her entire life without she even realizing it.

"The book brought your brother into existence Twilight, before, you were an only child."

HEY! Might as well go for broke if she's learning all truths.