Always Has Been

by Eakin

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

The next morning, eight ponies stood before the royal throne in Celestia’s royal court. All eight of them were household names, declared “Heroes of Equestria” and showered with honors a dozen times over. All of them also looked like they’d rather be somewhere else. The sheen of an exclusive audience with the Princess had long since worn away.

Princess Celestia regarded them with her practiced, unreadable smile. As students Twilight and Dawn had spent years studying that smile, trying to figure out if she disapproved of the answer they were giving to one of her questions or if they were completely off track. They were no closer to cracking it then they had been the day they had met her.

“My little ponies,” Celestia began as she always did, “thank you all for coming. I’m sorry to call you back so soon after your last trial, but Equestria finds itself in need of your services once again.” Celestia had arranged for the meeting to be completely private, dismissing even her royal guards from the hall. She had even asked the bearers to leave their pets and companions in Ponyville. No doubt Spike had already unlocked the door to the gem cellar and was polishing off the block of aged jade Twilight had been planning to give him for his birthday. Oh well, he deserved it.

Applejack stepped forward and bowed. “Princess, with all due respect, ma’am, you can skip all the fancy talk with us. We know what we gotta do, just point us in the direction of whatever it is we gotta zap with the Elements today and we’ll git ‘er done.” The others nodded in agreement.

Celestia broke into a smile, an authentic one this time. Twilight suspected that she actually enjoyed these audiences with the Element bearers, despite the dire circumstances that usually prompted them. She respected those who weren’t cowed by her power and title. These days the Bearers were pretty tough to intimidate. With the Elements’ aid they had thwarted entities several orders of magnitude more powerful than either Princess.

“I appreciate that you’re probably sick of the formalities. So am I, to be completely honest. However, this isn’t the sort of mission you’ve grown accustomed to over the last few years. There’s no giant monster, or robots, or rampaging hell-beasts threatening Equestria this time. In fact, you won’t even be taking the Elements with you.” Celestia paused to give the news a chance to sink in.

The pink earth pony standing between Applejack and Rarity spoke up. “I’m afraid I have to object to being summoned here, then. Whatever errand you need run, some other pony is surely better suited to it. Our utility to Equestria can be maximized if you limit our duties to tasks that require the Elements. Frankly, we’re already overworked and pushing us harder will only increase the chances of a disastrous failure during some future mission” said Pinkamena. She did have a gift for bluntly saying what the rest of them felt but didn’t dare to speak aloud. “Plus, if I’m not going to get to kill something with the Element of Pragmatism today I need to find something else to amuse me.”

“‘Mena! I’m sorry, Princess, my sister doesn’t mean to a rude mc’rudypants, we’re all just kinda tired is all,” Pinkie apologized on Pinkamena’s behalf. Pinkamena just rolled her eyes at her sister’s fawning behavior. “Although... if you don’t need the elements, why did you ask us to come?”

“You won’t need the Elements themselves,” said Celestia, “but the connection you share with them means that what I’m about to ask of you is something that only you can accomplish. Twilight, Dawn, my faithful students, you’ve been studying how the Elements work have you not?”

Dawn and Twilight looked at one another, puzzled at the apparent change in topics. “Well, Princess,” began Dawn, slipping into what Twilight usually thought of as ‘book report mode,’ “while their exact mechanism of operation is unknown we do know that the Elements of Harmony, when properly combined and activated by the magic inherent in friendships between a group of ponies, alter the nature of a target at the subatomic level. In laypony’s terms, they effectively ‘rewrite’ them into a form that no longer threatens the natural harmony of Equestria” she finished with a small flourish.

“Very good, Dawn,” said Celestia “but your explanation is incomplete.” Dawn’s eye twitched at the word ‘incomplete’ and Twilight shuddered in sympathy. Words like ‘incomplete’, ‘unsatisfactory’, and ‘tardy’ were the last things they wanted to hear from their former teacher. Celestia took notice of their discomfort. “Don’t feel bad, these last few years I’ve had a chance to look into the nature of the Elements more deeply, and I have some new findings. The Elements are actually NOT capable of rewriting the nature of any being from scratch.”

The assembled ponies looked at one another in confusion. “Umm... Excuse me, Princess, I don’t mean to interrupt or contradict you, but, um, they can do that. We’ve seen it for ourselves. One second, there’s a big cranky monster, then we use the Elements, and then they’re gone and there’s something friendly or less dangerous where they used to be. If that’s OK with you, I mean...” Fluttershy trailed off as her courage ran out.

“You’re right of course, Fluttershy” said Celestia. “The Elements certainly do alter the things they’re used against, but they don’t change it themselves. The true power of harmony lies in joining different things together. The best way I can explain it is that the Elements go looking for another world, identical to ours except that whatever their target is either does not exist or exists only in a non-threatening form. Then the Elements join those two worlds together as one. When done properly the two worlds align so closely that the only thing that’s changed is the target. No pony should be able to tell the difference between the old world and the new, joint one.”

“Well, I’m sure that’s really cool, Princess. For eggheads who like to study and write papers about stuff like that, anyway. But if no pony can tell the difference, who really cares why they work the way they do?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“That’s the thing, Rainbow. Most of the power expended by the Elements is used not in replacing whatever their target is, but rather in searching for the appropriate world to merge with. To function as they were originally meant to they need to rest for, at the bare minimum, a decade between uses.”

“Well, we’ve certainly used them a great deal more often than that. Especially lately,” said Rarity.

“Yes you have. At my request. I take full responsibility for the consequences,” said Celestia.

Twilight realized what the Princess was driving at. “So what happens when the Elements are fired improperly?”

Princess Celestia’s eyes sparkled with pride. She’d known that Twilight and Dawn would catch on quickly. “Exactly. You’ve already seen that they are still quite effective at changing the natures of their targets. In order to do so, they conserve energy by neglecting their other function. Rather than sifting through the infinite multiverse of worlds to find one an identical one, they just... use whatever one happens to be at hoof, so to speak. The lower their energy reserves get, the less exacting their standards become.”

“Wait just an apple buckin’ minute! You mean the elements are changin’ other things besides the monsters we use ‘em against? I don’t remember anything else bein’ different after we’ve used ‘em last time,” said Applejack.

“No, I suppose you wouldn’t have” said Celestia, unperturbed by her champion’s interruption. “What you have to realize is that the Elements don’t just join the worlds together at the moment of their use. They join the pasts of those worlds as well. So any changes they make when you use them are made in the past as well as the present. Excepting the old and new form of the target you use them on, of course.”

“So if the Elements are finding different worlds, and joining the pasts of those worlds together with ours...” Dawn trailed off, stunned at the implications of what she was saying.

“Every time we use the elements we replace our own past with another world’s,” said Twilight finishing her thought.

“Not replace, combine. The versions of you that lived through each past are merged into the same pony, remembering both worlds’ histories” said Celestia. “The more we use the elements, the greater the divergence in worlds they merge ours with, and the more things they try to bring together. Including, I believe, many of the creatures that we’ve been using the Elements of Harmony against recently. Bit of a paradox, isn’t it?”

“I get it!” shouted Pinkie, “It’s like if you have two bowls of chocolate chip cookie dough and mix ‘em up together, you can still bake chocolate chip cookies ‘cause it’s the same kind of dough. But if you mix up a bowl of peanut butter cookie dough and chocolate chip cookie dough they don’t really stick together right, and if you try to bake ‘em some parts will be be burned and other parts will be mushy and undercooked because they’re supposed to cook at different temperatures!”

Celestia considered what Pinkie had just said. From a technical standpoint, the metaphor was incorrect in quite literally every single possible way. “That’s a pretty good way to think about it, actually,” she finally admitted. “However, things have progressed to the point where, er, one of the bowls is full of brownie batter rather than cookie dough.”

Pinkie was struck dumb, slumping to the cold marble floor as her legs gave out from under her. Either she was stunned by having her entire conception of reality overturned in a single stroke, or she was getting an idea for a really tasty new kind of party snack. Or both.

“But if our memories are changed, how are we ever to know when something isn’t as it once was?” asked Rarity. “Or rather I suppose, that something has only been the way it always has been for a short time?” She placed a hoof against her forehead “Oh dear, this is going to become very confusing, isn’t it?”

“You’ll simply have to be on the lookout for inconsistencies in things you’ve taken for granted. Had you not been run so ragged by all the new ancient enemies that have become a threat to Equestria you likely would have noticed it on your own. After all, it’s a very difficult thing to actively believe in two mutually exclusive facts, and your connections to the Elements should give you some slight protection from their effects. I’m certain that in time you’ll be able to pick out the differences. They may take the form of mental or physical changes in yourselves or those around you, or if the differences would be too great to reconcile, the appearance of a whole new pony altogether.”

“Well, uh, I don’t think that I’ve noticed anything like that, Princess. I mean, I guess I haven’t really been looking for any, since I’ve been awfully busy with taking care of my bunnies and saving the world all the time,” said Fluttershy, “do you think you could give us an example of something that’s changed?”

Celestia closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself. She had hoped to break the news to them more gradually than this, but they were taking it better than expected so far. Perhaps it would be best to rip away their illusions as quickly as possible. She opened her eyes again and looked down at the eight Bearers, then up at the Great Hall. It was a symbol of everything the eight of them had already given so much to protect. Every stained glass window in the hall depicted one of their victories over a titanic foe, spirits and deities that could have crushed a pony with a thought, and even overthrown the Princesses with ease. But in every case the Bearers had stood up to them and saved the day. Celestia smiled. What ever had made her think she needed to protect these ponies? Least of all from the truth?

“Even with all my power, I am quite sure that I can only perceive a small fraction of the changes that have occurred. However... what would you say if I told you that a decade ago, Rainbow Dash wasn’t a stallion?”

Dash gave a nervous chuckle as his seven friends looked over at him, confused looks on their faces. “Yeah, I guess I was barely more than a colt back then, wasn’t I? Crazy times, am I right?”

No other pony was laughing with him.

“I’m afraid I mean that much more literally, Rainbow Dash,” said Celestia as gently as she could.

“What, you’re saying that I used to be a mare? That’s pretty good Princess, did Pinkie put you up to this? Because that was a really awesome prank. Is it April Foals day already? You guys totally had me going there. Guys?” he saw that he was still the only pony laughing. Pinkie, at least, should have been cracking up by now, that mare had no poker face at all. But instead she was was just looking at him with... pity? It could actually be true, though, right?

Rainbow sat down on the floor. His ears seemed to be full of a loud buzzing noise. Dawn reached over and put a hoof on his shoulder, not sure what she could say. Rainbow was lost in thought trying to process what he’d just been told and didn’t hear anything else the Princess said as she forged ahead with her explanation.

“There is one power in Equestria on par with friendship and harmony; namely love. The love between two alicorns, channeled with the proper rituals, should be able to overwhelm the Elements and destroy them utterly. Prince Solaris and I will provide this. Ever since your use of the Elements against Tiamat last night, we have been married for the last 5000 years and our love for each other is strong.”

“Wait, Princess, you’ve been married to the Prince, like, foreeeeeever! We musta met him a bajillion times since we started doing this!” exclaimed Pinkie. “Why wait until now if you’ve knew it was gonna be a problem?”

“I know you think of me as being married to him since times immaterial, but can you remember if you remembered him being my husband of 5 millenia yesterday?” asked Celestia.

“No, I remember remembering you as not married yesterday... but now you’ve been married for the last 5000 years?” asked Pinkie.

“That’s right, Pinkie,” confirmed Celestia. “That’s why only now do we have the ability to break the Elements apart and unspool the connections they’ve created between the different timelines.”

Pinkie sat back and grasped her head between her front hooves as she contemplated this new development. “Princess! Do you realize what this means? What the implications of this are? This means I have to throw you two 5000 anniversary parties!”

A fed-up Pinkamena pushed her sister aside, where she settled into a corner and began to eagerly plan 5000 simultaneous parties. “Now that Pinkie has the really important stuff well in hoof, can we turn our attention back to the ‘destroying the Elements of Harmony’ thing? Because that sounds like the kind of thing that could either blow up the planet or, best case scenario, just kill all of us horribly.”

“It is not without risk, which is why your assistance is necessary. I must stay at the palace and make preparations, but the ritual is too dangerous to try unless we know what has been changed and what hasn’t been. If we try to unravel what we think is a connection, but is actually a fundamental part of Equestrian reality...” she trailed off. In truth even she had no idea what might happen, but every pony in the room knew that they didn’t want to find out.

“I suppose that if the changes are affecting time itself, any written records would be compromised, too,” said Twilight, “and we know we can’t trust our own memories. How can we possibly find an account of what happened before, or, well, maybe originally is a better word to describe it? I think we’re going to need some new grammar if we’re going to be discussing this regularly.”

“It’s true that most books will reflect the new timeline. However, there may be a single exception,” said Celestia. “Legends speak of an ancient tome, somewhere in Equestria, that they refer to as the Book of Fate. According to these legends, everything that ever has and ever will happen is written within it. It exists outside of what we would properly consider time to be, and if we are fortunate it may have been unaffected by the Element’s magics.”

“Ah don’t suppose you know where it is?” asked Applejack hopefully.

“I’m afraid not, Applejack. But I’ve had researchers combing the archives for the last several weeks looking for clues. They will deliver their notes and any texts that you require up to the suite that we’ve prepared for you,” said Celestia. “Time is of the essence. The Elements have become too unstable to use any more, but the threats they have protected us from are still out there. We must find the Book of Fate and conduct the ritual before Canterlot is overwhelmed.”

Twilight stepped forward. “You can count on us, Princess!” The others nodded behind her. “By your leave, we’d like to get started right away.” She glanced over at Rainbow Dash, who was still dazed from what the Princess had told him. “I think we all have some things we’re going to want to talk to one another about, but please have the information sent up in an hour or so.”

“Thank you so much, my little ponies. I’m sorry that this task falls to you when you’ve all given the kingdom so much already. Of course I’ll have everything sent up whenever you’d like it, along with some meals,” said Celestia. Dawn shook Rainbow Dash, finally rousing him from his stupor and the group turned to leave.

Celestia watched them go, tempted to leave it at that. After all, she’d given them a big enough shock for a single day. Another part of her mind objected, chiding her for her cowardly rationalizations. They deserved to know.

“One final thing, actually,” said Celestia as the Bearers reached the door. “As I said before, I’m not sure of everything that’s changed since we began using the Elements. However, I remember very clearly that when I used them over 1000 years ago to banish Nightmare Moon, there were only six. Not eight as there are today.” She swallowed hard, unable to put off telling them the bad news any longer.

“I want you to prepare yourselves for the possibility that if we are successful... some of you may no longer exist.”

Comments

[Eakin]

Would you believe this is actually LESS dialogue than the first version I wrote? Anyway, I hope that the central idea and premise for the rest of the story comes through clearly enough and you'll forgive the expodump chapter.

[Deus]

1085637 Well yeah they are but I mean... actually you're right... what was I thinking

[Aotrs Commander]

Well, this is going to be confusing as all get out...

And hilariously entertaining as we see the rest of the chaos Equestria is currently in, no doubt...!

[maximus25]

I'm so confused, but at the same time I understand perfectly.

[MarcDaJohnson]

1086599
Everything is so clear now!
I had Philosophy last semester so this converging realities thing has me quite intrigued. You have my full and undivided attention.