//------------------------------// // Investigation // Story: The Many Sparkle Interpretation // by chillbook1 //------------------------------// Twilight and Spike stumbled out of the portal, gasping for breath. They assumed, perhaps foolishly, that traveling through realities would be quick and smooth, like a unicorn’s teleportation. They were very much so mistaken. Falling from one universe to another was long, arduous. The very air seemed to be crushing them for an eternity, compacting them for what felt like eons before spitting them out into a strange, new world. The laboratory Twilight found herself in was not too dissimilar from her own. The chalkboard was in roughly the same position, and the calculations on it were near-identical. But, as Twilight looked more closely, she noticed the difference. Her desk, for instance, was on the left side of the room rather than the right, which would necessitate one to walk across the entire room to get to the board. Twilight recalled when she established her own lab back home and had made the decision of where to put the desk. It had occurred to her that putting the desk further from the board would help prevent her from getting lazy in her seat during calculations, but she decided against it in favor of proximity to her chalkboard. Twilight stared in awe, wondering if it was possible that this world actually came into existence solely because of that one, simple choice. “Where are we?” asked Twilight. TX closed the portal with a tap of her hoofband, which she called a Container, then turned her attention to a tarp in the middle of the floor, which was covering two masses that Twilight took no pleasure in speculating the nature of. “This is Equestria R-322,” said TX. “This is where the latest Twilight was killed.” “Oh man…” said Spike, clutching his stomach. “I think I'm gonna be sick…” “Jumping between universes is a always rough the first half dozen or so times.” TX tapped at her Container, inputting some sort of data or code. “You'll get used to it.” “You seem pretty used to it, yourself,” noted Twilight. “This isn't weird to you?” “I discovered the portal technology a year and a half ago. I’ve spoken to countless other Twilights, each of us sharing our thoughts and discoveries. I’ve heard stories, seen worlds so beautiful that it was hard to go home,” said TX. “I’ve seen realities so horrible that I could barely continue exploring. I’ve learned everything and forgotten even more. I’ve eclipsed the possible knowledge of any singular, mortal pony in any given reality, yet have had my own understanding dwarfed and invalidated by versions of us I could only describe as godly.” TX sighed almost wistfully. “So, in so many words, I’ve become more or less immune to ‘weird’. But I digress. We need to take a look at them.” “What are we even looking for?” asked Twilight. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t have called you,” said TX. “But your world is magic-based, yes?” “Is yours not?” “Our worlds are flipped. Our technology outclasses yours by a landslide, but our magic is nowhere near as powerful or ubiquitous as in C-317. So, I was hoping you could use your magic to help me see what I couldn’t find before.” Twilight nodded, then joined her counterpart at the tarp. A lump formed in her throat as TX grabbed a corner of the tarp between her teeth. Though Twilight was certain she knew what was beneath it, she begged, hoped beyond belief, that she was wrong. TX slowly dragged off the tarp, revealing a hoof, a claw, a muzzle, a tail. Twilight couldn’t avert her eyes, even when she was staring into her own cold, dead, vacant eyes. She was dead. Twilight knew that she, herself, wasn’t, but that didn’t stop her brain from connecting what she saw before her to her own being. Twilight Sparkle was dead. There she was, her glassy eyes beaming out nothingness for all of eternity. Her mouth was slightly agape, as if she was just about to say something. But she couldn’t, not ever. “Sweet Celestia…” Twilight took a step back, her heart pounding in her throat. “That’s… That’s us…” said Spike, unable to tear his eyes away from the corpses. “It’s a lot to take in, I know,” said TX. “But try to remember that they aren’t you. This is Doctor Twilight Sparkle. An earth pony quantum physicist. You’re an alicorn princess. This is R-322. You are C-317.” “But we’re both Twilight,” said Twilight, a touch of anger in her voice. “That’s me right there. And you. How can you be okay with this?” “You think I’m okay with ponies getting murdered just because I’m not having an existential crisis? I told you, I’ve seen this before. I’m used to it. That doesn’t make it any less terrible.” “What could you have possibly seen that could desensitize you to your own corpse?” Twilight ran a hoof through her mane. “Don’t you get it? She’s dead! You’re dead! That doesn’t freak you out a little? What have you seen to make this not shocking? I think I could use something like that.” “Equestria G-269. This reality was still in what you’d call medieval times. Their Twilight was a scientist, and a brilliant one,” said TX. “I visited her and helped her bring technology to her people. I returned a few days later to find her burning at the stake for the crime of witchcraft. Equestria T-222, a village that was ransacked by bandits. I found their Twilight’s head on a pike. Twilight C-420, bank robber/homicidal maniac. Betrayed and killed by her Spike.” TX tilted her head, staring blankly at Twilight. “That one is rather close to you. Only 103 worlds from yours. That’s a few meters in the grand scheme of the multiverse. That was very nearly you. But you’re not a bank robber, are you?” “N-no!” “No plans to go out on a murder spree?” “Of course not. I’m just—” “What about you, Spike C-317,” said TX. “Are you intending to kill your Twilight? Kill her in cold blood?” Spike’s eyes went wide. He silently shook his head, more than a bit taken aback by TX’s tone. “Of course not. Because you’re not Spike C-420. You’re Spike C-317. And you’re Twlight C-317. Not T-222, killed by a horde of savages.Not G-269, executed for her intelligence. Not C-420, killed by the person she trusts most, and not R-322, dead on her lab floor. So, if you don’t mind, I need to find the one who did this before more Twilights die. Get a grip of yourself, Sparkle. Lives are at stake.” Twilight looked as if she had been slapped across the face. None of this was processing in her brain correctly. Even though TX had explained that there are infinite possibilities, Twilight never really considered that some of them might be terrible. She took in a deep breath through her nose, letting it out through her mouth. “Alright,” said Twilight. “What do we do?” “Do you have some sort of autopsy spell?” asked TX. “I haven't been able to pinpoint precisely what killed them.” Twilight nodded, then lit up her horn. She swirled her magic through her body, forcing it out of her horn in the form of a thin, panning beam of violet light. The beam passed over the cadavers several times before finally giving Twilight a cause of death. “Brain hemorrhage. Probably from an aneurysm,” said Twilight. “Are we sure this is a murder? It looks like natural causes to me.” “Tell me, how many instances of simultaneous double aneurysms between two beings of different age, size, diet, and species are you familiar with?” asked TX dryly. “In my defense, you just told me that there are an infinite number of universes with an infinite number of possibilities,” countered Twilight. “So, theoretically, there's at least one universe in which a Twilight and a Spike did simultaneously have aneurysms, despite the sheer odds and other factors influencing their health.” “Touché, TC. Now you're getting it.” “Twi, I think you're getting too used to this,” said Spike. “Ah, she's just a quick learner. Most of us are,” said TX. “Which is why I don't doubt that she can figure out the next step.” Twilight looked around the room, trying to decide on the best course of action. Where this any other murder, she'd probably go around town and ask if anypony saw anything strange, but she discarded this idea rather quickly. She couldn't exactly explain to the townsfolk that their resident earth pony doctor had become an alicorn and was investigating her own murder. So, barring interviewing potential witnesses, the best thing to do was to find who had been there recently. “How long has it been?” asked Twilight. “Since Twilight R-322… passed on.” “It's been six hours in R-322’s time,” said TX. Twilight nodded, then cast another spell. The room was bathed in purple light, flooding the entire laboratory for several moments. When it faded, there were three silhouettes comprised of purple light. Two of them were the deceased Twilight and Spike of R-322, while the other, standing a few feet away, was a unicorn with some sort of helmet. “Impressive,” said TX with a nod. “And this is the actual murder, correct?” “Yes. No sound, though, so we can't tell if they said anything,” said Twilight. “Spike, you may want to look away.” “No way. I wanna help,” said Spike. “You sure?” “Positive. I think I can take it.” Twilight nodded slightly, then commenced the spell. The silhouettes began moving; Twilight R-322 backed up slightly, blocking her Spike from view with her body. The unicorn removed its helmet, revealing itself to be Twilight. Twilight R-322 excitedly hurried over to her desk, while the Rogue Twilight removed something from her belt and rolled it forward. Spike R-322 lifted it up and, just as soon as his Twilight turned around, they both hit the ground, dead. The Rogue prodded each of their bodies with a hoof, then stepped forward and vanished. “That looks like Z dimension gear...” said TX. “I haven’t been to a Z dimension in a while.” “You can tell just by looking?” asked Spike. “I can make an educated guess. Wait here, please.” TX opened up a portal with her Container. “I’ll be back.” “Don’t leave us here!” said Twilight. “What if the rogue Twilight comes back? We don’t know how to use these things! We’ll be trapped!” “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in five minutes. I just need to grab some gear from my place,” said TX. She smiled reassuringly. “I promise, I’ll be right back. Everything will be okay.” Leaving no more room for argument, TX leapt through the portal, collapsing it shut behind herself. Twilight groaned in annoyance, then dropped to her flank tiredly. She just wanted this to end. Spike sat next to her, resting his head on her shoulder as he stared at his own lifeless body. “At least they went out together,” said Spike. “Hm?” Twilight stopped her worrying for a moment, turning her attention to her friend. “These guys. Spike and Twilight R-322.” Spike closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. “They didn’t die alone. At least they had each other. Til the end.” “I don’t think they knew that,” said Twilight. “I don’t think they realized what was happening.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Still. It’s nice to know that one of them isn’t missing the other,” said Spike. It got quiet for a spell, both Twilight and Spike trying to absorb the full gravity of the situation they found themselves in. “I think that’s nice. I hope we can have something like that.” “I don’t want to think about that, Spike. Nothing is going to happen to us now,” said Twilight. “We’re going to find this rogue me and then everything will be fine.” “Okay. I shouldn't be worrying. We can do this,” said Spike. “We've been through a lot. This is just another hurdle to jump over. Right?” “Exactly. Nothing can stop us.” Twilight grinned, hugging Spike tightly. “Not even me.” Twilight grabbed the tarp in her magic and used it to cover the bodies of the R-322 Twilight and Spike. Her gaze rose from their bodies up to the chalkboard. “Her calculations were different than mine, which makes sense. She was an earth pony, after all. Her formulae was for a machine, not magic.” “But you two were working on the same thing?” asked Spike. “The thing you thought was for transplanetary teleportation?” “It looks like it. Except… Maybe she knew what she was looking for.” Twilight stood up, taking a closer look at the board. “Look. She keeps mentioning this ‘Other Frequency’. What's the first frequency?” “You think it was her world? R-322?” “I do. So that means The Other Frequency was likely another reality, like ours,” said Twilight with a curious hum. “She was close… And maybe that's what made her a target…” There was a shriek, like splitting metal, as another portal opened in the center of the room. A large metal box spilled out, at least the size of Twilight, hitting the ground with a dull thud. The box was followed by a very tired, disheveled looking TX, who closed the portal as soon as she was through. “See? Told you I'd be back,” huffed TX. “Just had to fetch some stuff from the lab.” “What is that?” asked Spike. TX grinned widely, tapping the side of the box with her Container. The box split open at the top, revealing a console of buttons, screens, antennae, and scanners. “The lab,” said TX. “Impressive, eh?” “Very. That must've been difficult without magic,” said Twilight. “What do you intend to do with that?” “Well, like I said, our Rogue Twilight seems to be using gear from one of the Z dimensions,” said TX. “Z dimension Twilights use very particular tech with a very particular energy signature. I need to know which dimension in particular Rouge Twilight originates from. My mobile lab will help me trace the energy through the multiverse and back to the source. We've got our first lead!” “Excellent! Well, what are you waiting for?” said Twilight, clapping her hooves giddily. “Trace the signature!” “One moment…” TX brought her Container up to the mobile lab, booting up the machinery. She tapped in the necessary numbers, her eyes scanning the screens for the location of her target. “So, I’ve been thinking,” said Twilight. “Maybe Rogue Twilight attacked R-322 because she was about to crack the secrets of interdimensional travel.” “And Rogue wants to horde the power herself. She can’t be stopped if she’s the only one with the technology,” said TX with a nod. “Plus, she could ally herself with the versions of us that align with her viewpoints. She’d be a god.” “So we stop her now.” “And we’ll be stopping her in…” The mini-lab dinged loudly, drawing TX’s attention to a screen in the corner. “Equestria Z-544. Oh.” Her grin faltered, falling into a concerned frown. “This is a bad one.” “B-bad?” asked Spike nervously. “Bad how?” “I was hoping I'd get to show you some of the beauty of the multiverse. All of the realities we could've been directed to, and we get this one," said TX with a sigh. "TC, SC, get ready. We get to explore a universe more horrific than your worst night terrors." She grinned suddenly, opening up the portal. "Isn't it exciting?"