This story is a sequel to Damaged Goods
It's easy to believe in second chances. Twilight Sparkle has certainly witnessed and even offered several of them in her life, but never before has it been so personal. She's been hurt before, but never by ponies she loved so much.
Now, as feelings turn sour and love grows cold, Twilight must uncover the answer to a delicate question: what does it mean to forgive?
And how does it relate to Discord?
The fifth installment in Single Point. Credit to Meta Four for proofreading.
Chapters (17)
At least Rarity recognizes that everypony seems stuck in a cycle- which hopefully means they can ease out of it soon. Now let see what, ahem, distraction Twilight's new project provides....
This is acting as if he's still in the statue which he is not.
8516656
That scene took place in the aftermath of "Too Many Pinkie Pies", which was before Discord's unsealing in "Keep Calm and Flutter On".
The rest of the chapter and, indeed, story proper is just after "Power Ponies", allowing Discord to show up in person later on, but that part was earlier.
8516765
Sorry it just a bit hard to tell the timelining of it all.
...well, at least they're not bottling stuff up anymore. But at this rate the Elements would be useless even if they could trek through the forest for them.
All those flashbacks really make it seem like Twilight and Applejack would be better as friends after all... but now they're too stuck in hormonal grip for that to work either.
I wonder if this was the same experience a Mirror Pool clone had upon emergence?
images.moviepilot.com/image/upload/c_fill,h_470,q_auto:good,w_620/moreomir-boromir-was-one-of-the-most-noble-characters-in-the-lord-of-the-rings-and-here-s-why-jpeg-261549.jpg
If this means we take a break from Fluttershy being the first one to notice something and getting talked over, it's just as well.
And now I feel sorry for the Twilight construct.
Darn it, don't make me start squeeing over Raritwi when I'm probably not supposed to!
Well, I can definitely say you got Twilight's confusion and annoyance at her circumstances- if you will, her dysphoria (hooray for expanding my vocabulary!)- across very well. Sure left me less than satisfied leaving off there.
The more assumptions Twilight makes about her situation, no matter how understandable, the more I end up thinking "How is she wrong/what lesson has she somehow not internalized yet this time?" At least, we know(?) that she isn't physically present back in "reality", though if she's "really" in another timeline or such, one wonders what happened to the Twilight there.
At least a lot of this new world is straightforward enough, even if details are short- something blew up Canterlot and the Princesses (or otherwise removed them from the equation), apparently before Discord was ever released (unless he just never existed), so Twilight's been promoted and the unicorns have to make the days go by the old-fashioned way. As to why there's a rebellion in the ruins of Ponyville, or what Spike or Applejack have to do with them, we'll just have to see (though I'm getting the impression this Twilight never opened up as much as the one we know).
And are we seriously doing another leg of this triangle?
Wow. This is getting really intense. I can't wait for the next chapter.
Here's hoping Twilight stops by the library after she gets back to the Empire and finally gets some context.
It kind of bugs me when Discord seems to be given the moral high ground when the others call him out for all he's put them through- and isn't particularly repentant for- but it's great seeing Fluttershy be Fluttershy. And, again, I can't help feeling sorry for the construct either.
8641925
I'll try to keep this in mind in his later scenes.
8641942
Eh, it wasn't that bad. It's something I've become oversensitive to, but in this case it largely was Discord being Discord (and Fluttershy sticking up for the "attacked" side).
As I've said before, I'm maybe also too used to these iterations of the Manes always managing to overcorrect and screw up some new way after everything they've gone through.
“Congratulations, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said with a smile. “I still can’t believe you became an alicorn! I didn’t even know that was possible.”
That is a nightmare I hope never comes to pass.
Nice to see one existential crisis past, at least.
That sounds a little mixed up- as far as I know, "real" Rarity isn't anypony's lover right now.
Celestia's awesome.
So Discord just now went to find Twilight but then found her earlier in this trip... makes sense, actually.
I love this... so much... to be fair, I haven’t read a lot of this so far, but I’ve been looking for an idea like this one to be made into a story. I can’t wait until this story’s complete! Awesome job! 👍🏻
Yay! I like how you used a word that equestria sees as a curse word. Ever since the flutter brutter episode, I’ve always wanted to see that word be used in a fan fic. Thank you for fulfilling my dreams...
Oh please let there be a bachelor: my little pony edition starring flash century! That would literally make my day’ lol
When does this take place? Cause from the look of things, twilight doesn’t know who thorax is.
8725779
This takes place in early season four, just after "Power Ponies". Consequentially, Maud and Tirek are two other name-drops that have gone right over Twilight's head in the other world.
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the story.
It's constantly confusing that a word meaning "bad" is also the designation for the apple genus.
Well, that came out of nowhere.
Odd dimensional interlude there. I don't suppose that figurine actually somehow represents "our" Twilight poking into that reality (instead of her POV being that of her local Twinner)?
And I imagine this can't be as simple as her finding the right passageway in her head and vanishing from her cell....
8727269
That's a bit that will play better when people are reading the whole story in archive than chapter by chapter.
It's the punchline to a Brick Joke. Last chapter, Discord demonstrated what happened to Twilight by conjuring up a little wooden figure of Twilight and plunging it through a gap in reality. It's been falling ever since; that interlude saw the figurine finally landing. Somewhere across time and space, Discord plunked it right on a Twilight Sparkle's head, because of course he did.
Ooh, backstory!
Who does Sunset think Twilight is, Jim Morrison?
Nice seeing Twi finally take some initiative... and Sunset showing why she was Celestia's pupil too.
There’s some primo irony in the fact that Twilight can’t convince anyone she’s a pony, not a changeling—but when she gives up trying and plays along, Sunset immediately figures out she isn’t a changeling.
8768729
I hadn't even thought of that.
Sunset was originally just supposed to be one of the various antagonists locked away in Bridle Rock, but her role started expanding when I realized that if anyone in Equestria would be able to easily grasp the concept of a parallel reality duplicate, it's Sunset Shimmer.
I'd really like to hear this backstory.
Theory time!
The two staircases are the two Twilights. They go nowhere because Discord’s an existentialist and thinks your life only has whatever meaning you assign to it. They’re separate because Discord was trying to make the point that this universe’s Twilight is not the same as our Twilight. And as long as Twi keeps using knowledge of her friends to make assumptions about their counterparts in this universe, she’s going to get burned. Or worse, if Twi came here because she thought it would provide insight into her friends back home, then she’s on a fool’s errand.
It’s this universe’s Discord behind that door. Twilight’s new chaos magic senses him.
I feel like I’m going about as crazy as Twilight with these chaos magic bits, so good work.
Boy, can I relate.
This should be good....
LOL
Yeah Sunset's a bitch here.
Looking over the scars that symbolized everything she’d learned and everything she’d given to Equestria, she opened her snout as she did every day and reaffirmed her one great purpose.
“I will defend Equestria from anyone.”
Maybe that should include yourself huh.
I'd say Crystal Princess Twilight should take a good hard look in the mirror, but that doesn't seem to have done her any good.
Celestia's death clearly did a number on her, but I guess she, and Equestria at large, were kind of borked from the beginning. Our Twi was on the right track before she started moping again- this is what an Equestria without the Magic of Friendship is like, and hopefully realizing it will help her reaffirm her own devotion to her friends.
It only occurs to me now to wonder if Sugar Blossom was Applejack’s second girlfriend. I don’t recognize the name but you’d think we’d already fully plumbed AJ for tragic backstory.
Anyway, looks like things are kicking into high gear.
Neat seeing Trixie stick up for herself a bit, too.
Seeing both Twilight and Applejack’s POVs of thinking about what their relationship means to them, warts and all, this chapter makes me feel the best I have in a while about their long-term viability. Nothing like an interdimensionally enforced cooldown period to provide some perspective.
And at least AJ had the sense
of smellnot to go through with a reasonable facsimile thereof. Here’s hoping Cardilight can somehow figure out her own, less angsty, place in things....8971112
I’m reminded of GaPJaxie’s I Forgot I Was There, which also had Twilight accidentally create a magic clone of herself, then the story dove hard into the depressing aftermath of that mistake. But I suspect this Twilight would want to do the right thing for her doppelganger.
This is a brilliant fanfic. Excellent grammar. Flawless punctuation. Fantastic Narrative. Words fail me for how much I was to see this through to the end.
The day that Twilight manages to escape/fix this apocalyptic alternate timeline will be a happy one. People say that Happy endings are cheesy and lame but when it comes to stories like this? When such an ending is built up and well-deserved and well-executed? It works and it should be there.
But it'll probably be a very long time before that happy ending comes by. Or indeed, the confrontation/meeting between the characters and Twilight, as this chapter ending feels like the season finale for season 1
Twilight has just escaped with Sunet and Co. and has to meet up with Applejack. Act-Twi continues to lose her mind and jump to conclusions. Discord tries to aid in his cryptic/amusing way the very nature of chaos to Twilight in the form of visions. Fake-Twi tries to tempt Applejack in Twilight's absence. I'm guessing that Pinkie Pie is Apple Jack and Co's informant? It's pity that Act-Twi didn't leave the elements of Harmony in the vault and thus allowing Real-Twi to carry them with her. I'm rambling a bit, sorry.
Hoho, this is so exciting! There is so much more to come. The day it comes will be quite the treat :)
Theory time!
I get the impression from Discord’s lecture (and his choice of example) that chaos magic doesn’t break the fourth wall per se, but works by dramatic convention as if you were in a story. Twi was able to use chaos magic to knock the teacup out of Discord’s hand, both because she got mad, and because she’s at the point in the story where “the hero has a new power, but doesn’t understand how it works and can only use it by accident.” The point of showing off that other universe is to demonstrate that, just as IRL scientists think alternate universes could operate under completely different laws of physics from our own, alternate universes operate under different narrative laws. In that universe, it’s a law that “Diamondgleam is The Best”.
I have to say those Discord scenes frustrate me almost as much as they do Twilight, if only because I thought that she would long since know the futility of trying to get a straight answer out of him. Also it felt more like the “answer” is more like “you don’t know how gravity really works either, just that it does, so at some point you’ve just got to acknowledge things as they are and roll with it.” Heck, Discord himself may not even know how he works and is BSing his way through this.
At least Twi got a moral victory for once with Sunset, and helping Fluttershy speak her piece.
Well, this trip is clearly going to go very well.
Yep, Twilite is becoming her own pony, and not for the better.
At least AJ may finally be on the verge of snapping out of this “I’m not worthy” cycle (thanks Granny!).
Ugh, I’m getting tired of Twilight’s pity party. Her friends failed to inform her of one (admittedly not insignificant) thing, and now they’re completely undependable and “abandoned” her.... And for that matter, even with understandable reluctance on Applejack and the others’ parts to bring it up (and Twilight assuming it wouldn’t apply), you’d think that the topic of past dating history would have come up at some point from some quarter in all this time.
Figures. Applejack waits around too long and then gets captured only just before she was going to leave, instead of, you know, leaving. I guess it worked out for the best, though. Here’s hoping it helps Twilight finally get over herself.
Wow, Mirror Twilight kind of reminds me of Tempest Shadow, though with more of a temper.
9251264
There are definitely shades of Tempest in AP Twilight - especially the belligerent self-determination and the damaged, mildly volatile horn (I swear, I came up with that before the movie was a thing). I do lament the fact that the movie doesn't take place prior to season 4, barring the characters from drawing a more direct comparison.
Honestly? At this point, I'm not expecting a happy ending.. Things seem to get bleaker every chapter. Doesn't mean I won't stop reading, cause I'm really curious where it will go.
At least it looks like Twilight and Applejack are finally making progress again. Or at least Twilight’s decided she wants to make progress. And that’s progress. I also can relate to Twilight trying to find some way that the situation is her fault just so she can improve and keep it from happening again.
As for alt Twilight... it feels like this was a moral event horizon moment for her, but at the same time it is kind of a probability-defying coincidence for the sister of public enemy number one to accidentally put the whole country in such a bind. Twilight’s issue isn’t so much that she made a hard choice, it’s that she didn’t see it as a hard choice, or indeed a choice at all. (And even if they had been guilty, maybe fillies don’t need to go the same frozen supermax as actual rogues... but then again, it would be a twist if the Shield broke open Bridle Rock and still didn’t find Apple Bloom and Scootaloo....)
8863401
And the first thought I had in my mind was:
Ooooh sweet irony... :D
Jesus, that sent shivers.
9044461
He's most certainly not. :-)
Also, that's not the point. Why should gravity work the way it does? Why do you make the choices you do? Why can't a banner appear out of thin air?
Why indeed.
Let's tackle it step by step.
NOTICE: I haven't read past chapter 13. This is an advance prediction.
"If you immediately realize that candle-light is fire, the meal was cooked a long time ago."
Things are only obvious in restrospect. Until you have the "A-ha!" moment, the answer is obscured from your understanding. But once you have it, it's like it's always been there. You can only immediately recognize something for what it is if it's common knowledge to you by then.
So tell me... Why should gravity work at all, hm? Explain that to Discord floating in nothingness. Please, be my guest. Should it work at all? Does it have to? In the face of the great sea of possibility - the everything that adds up to a "1" in terms of probability - why should anything be anything? And conversely, why shouldn't it be? You're swimming in infinite possibility - the only thing holding you back is yourself and the rules you impose on yourself. The set of physical laws in this reality, in the face of infinite possibility, has turned out to be an impoverished set indeed, and Twilight must finally realize that and let it go, in order to embrace the bigger truth - Discord can do what he wants because he's not binding himself down with silly rules. And his greatest weakness is that anypony can do it, if only they learn to let go as well. Which, of course, would also pleasure him immensely... Why? Because then things would be interesting. Besides, unstoppable force, immovable object.
But of course, it's not a joke... because that way lies madness. He's a great example of that. Because if you really can do anything, anything at all... what would you do? And how long would you be able to stave off boredom before you... got creative?
He makes a ton of sense, but Twilight has failed to ask the important question: assume Discord does make sense, and find the frame of reference where it fits. She's missing that something fierce, and notice carefully: she's missing it only because she's dismissing it out of hoof. She literally can't find the answer, because she's put the truth outside of her hypothesis space right off the bat. That's bad science, you know? Because once you reorient your mind to that frame of reference, he makes an insane amount of sense.
And for a self-proclaimed scientist, she's spending quite a bit of time arguing with reality, for some reason...
Why does everything have to make sense?
And now we're getting somewhere...
You know, I sometimes entertain the idea of being immortal, and possibly close to omnipotence. And no matter how I look at it, eventually I'd start making up rules for myself, just to raise the stakes. Maybe that's saying more about me than anyone else, though... But how could I possibly become invested enough to care about anything if I could never truly lose and be without...?
And now, I go back to reading. I'm open to discussion on these points, of course.
9042438
Pardon the double-post, but I just wanted to quickly (and separately) point out that even though that explanation seems a little stretched, I'm not dismissing that possibility outright. It is a story, after all... ;)
9347872
I'm honestly half-expecting Twi-lite to become the new ruler of Twitler!Equestria. I mean, they'll have to do something about her at some point, and despite her being written in a way to make even the readers' hair stand on ends, I get the feeling that she really is what she claims to be. The whole thing also seems strangely reminiscent of Bad Wolf... In any case, I'm not rightly ready to give up on her quite yet. Though I'd be perfectly okay with her stickin' around. Still... the way things are goin', the distrust and all back in FIM!Equestria, is not helping any. I feel dread for what Twi-lite might do - not because she's Tom, but because she's hurt right now, and will only be hurt more. I'm not even sure if that can at all be helped, until she accepts her reality. And I really, really hope that - along with everyone else - somepony back home, perhaps FiM!Rarity, will grow a lil' bit more and realize this before things grow too far out of control. I feel that's her stand, waiting for her.
As for the happy ending... I don't know. Twitler!Equestria sounds like a crapsack world, and in those you usually don't get a "happy" happy ending - stories that touch upon such worlds usually don't deal in "happy": they deal in hope instead, however. Hope for change. Hope for better days somewhere down the line, maybe. The stories set there are usually unresolved by the end, but it often feels like the night has a chance to well and truly end, and the sun just might rise once again "over this forsaken land". It's sort of the point of leavin' the plot open-ended - so that there could be hope. I mean, FiM isn't about hope, no - you know things will be okay by the end of the episode, if not this one then the next.
This story here - is about pain, hope, identity... About what it means to be a princess, what it means to be in love, what it means to forgive. And to be perfectly honest, I'm enjoyin' the way it's showin' us how everything has a flipside to it, joined like sisters. And it keeps reminding me of something the Doctor once said:
This best not be dead, it was starting to get real juicy
So, um... I'm hopeful for a continuation? I mean, there's a lot of backstory and some pretty hefty open ends in "Single Point of Failure"-verse (or SPF). I mean, it's got its own critical mass now. It's a known, high quality. We need more.