//------------------------------// // Variation 7: The Physics Are Too Odd // Story: Patch Day // by drunkenpandaren //------------------------------// The Physics Are Too Odd Sunset Shimmer had seen the odd man in the labcoat around the school a few times, occasionally checking his pocket watch and looking up at the clock that was inevitably next to him. He was never in the same place, always gazing at the time and looking through the vast sea of students. Inevitably, his gaze would land on hers, and he'd give her a little smile before disappearing around the corner. Sunset wanted answers. For most of her life here in the other world, she had seen him appear and go, never looking younger or older than he did at that given time. It was something that nagged at her for quite a while. It was on this day that she stepped around the corner, and found the man in the coat talking to one of the professors, Time Turner, otherwise known as the Doctor. "You shouldn't be here, Paradox, not at this time," argued the Doctor. "Crossing your own timeline has great effects that could cause trouble later on."   "My dear friend, if there's anyone who has taken a risk it is you, staying stationary throughout linear time," replied the man who was named, inexplicably, Paradox. But then again, considering the names in the town, it wasn't much of a stretch. "You know as well as I do that I usually avoid this universe entirely."   "Which is why you shouldn't be here," Argued the Doctor. "I've got everything under control."   "Oh yes, I know," replied Paradox calmly, seemingly infuriating the Doctor further. "Which is why, I just came along for a moment in time. Hello Sunset Shimmer, come along, we've got much work to do." "Wait, how did you know who I was?" Asked Sunset, feeling stupid for even asking. "Sunset, this isn't your problem, go back to class," said the Doctor sharply, making her jump in surprise at his tone. The usually nice and happy Doctor was practically enraged by now, glaring daggers at the man in front of him. "Celestia will hear about this."   "My dear boy, Celestia already knows and gives her best. There isn't much she can do about this, not at this stage of time at least." Paradox turned to Sunset and added, "I am Professor Paradox, and you already know your teacher the good Doctor." "I know about him, but not about you. You're not human, are you?" said Sunset, folding her arms. "Actually I am 100% human, just I am completely out of sync with time. A Timewalker if you will." "Uh huh. And why is the Doctor so angry?" "Restraining order," replied Paradox blithely. "He's not to come within 500 light years of this Universe," grumbled the Doctor. "Remember the last restraining order you got?" "Oh yes, the Celestialsapiens certainly enjoyed assigning it to me," said Paradox with a wide, goofy smile. "Okay, so given the fact that you're human but somehow are involved in apparently, and this just a guess, time travel, what's that got to do with me?" asked Sunset. "My dear, something or someone is on the verge of chopping down your own timeline, a tree if you will. The effects of a previous incident in a neighbouring universe has already had ramifications across cross-time. Other dimensions, other worlds, other universes in fact. There is more than one Earth after all, and more than one Equestria. But it seems that a certain someone has decided that you were too much of a liability."   "Great," said Sunset, her expression falling. "Just what I needed, someone taking vengeance for the things I did wrong." "Which is why you need to fix it, to prevent it from happening in the first place. It will be but a few minutes before everything comes undone. Doctor I suggest getting into your little blue box to weather the storm." "This isn't over Paradox," grumbled the Doctor as he made tracks for the shed. "What's got him so riled up? If you're a time traveller and he's... well, is he a time traveller too?" Asked Sunset, only getting a genial smile from Paradox in reply. "Oh, well I guess that explains why he's always late." "His method of travel is far less punctual than mine," said Paradox. "Come along, it's time to go." And the pair vanished into light. ===== Sunset blinked the stars out of her eyes as she looked up at the towering spires of... "Canterlot? What are we doing back here? We didn't go through the portal, did we?" "My dear there are more things than the portal," said Paradox. Their arrival in the nearby alleyway of the upper spires of Canterlot had been concealed, and he was checking his watch. "Any minute now." "Any minute for what?" asked Sunset, seconds before the whole east tower exploded into vines. "Is that...? No way..." "Indeed. We are near the beginning of the Sunset Shimmer Timeline. In this point, your path diverges into many tree trunks, but lets for the record called this the Sunset Prime timeline. In here, you just passed your exam. Your job is to ensure, that what you did, happens." "But what if I don't want it to happen?" Sunset turned to face Paradox, a hard expression on her face. "I don't want it to happen. You saw what I did to the school, what I did to everyone else. I can't let myself go through with that again." "My dear, sometimes things happen like that. Even if you wish hard enough, changing your own timeline will in fact happen -- in another cross-time universe." Said Paradox. "For example, do you want to see another cross-time you?" "... Show me." "Very well. And off we go." ===== "Princess Sunset Shimmer...?" Asked the young aid next to her. "I have the reports you wanted." "Did you triple check and file them according to alphabetical?" Asked the Princess as Sunset Shimmer and Paradox peered around the corner at the two ponies. Her aid, Twilight Sparkle nodded. "Yes, and even made certain to add the double-count system in too." The princess smiled as she gave her friend a hug. "What would I do without my most faithful aid?"   "Curl up? I mean, you are the Element of Magic and the Princess of Friendship after all..." Laughed Twilight. Sunset pulled back, looking at her fingers for a moment before peering back at the pair. "This... happened? This can happen I mean?" "We are sitting in the cross-time dimension of 42 to be precise. The numbering system varies, but in this timeline, you and Celestia never had your fight, and you grew to love her like a mother again. She sent you to Ponyville, where you have 5 good friends. Your best friend however, is Twilight Sparkle of this world, who entered the school a few years after you. And you took her on as a friend and mentor." "I never thought that I could become a princess for real." Sunset smiled at the happy scene. "But..."   "You wish to know what else you have in store?" Sunset nodded. "Very well. Brace yourself. It is not pretty." ===== OBEY was written all over the walls in giant posters as Sunset breathed in the smoky air and coughed. "What happened to this place?" Asked Sunset, looking from the corners at the destitute ponies who littered the streets of Canterlot. "This is the 25th dimension. In this universe, you overthrew Princess Celestia, breaking the bonds between her and the sun, leaving her powerless. You are the Solar Diarch now." Explained Paradox.   "What? That's impossible! I shouldn't have that kind of power, it doesn't make sense!"   "On the contrary, you do have that kind of power. And when you gained your hooves on the necronomicon back in the forbidden library, you gave it but a mere glance before. But in this universe, you had time to read it, from cover to cover. And found a spell to sever an alicorn from her magic, stealing it from her." Paradox rested a hand on her shoulder. "Do you want to see more of it?" "Show me..." In a flash of light, the pair were standing near the entrance of a once beautiful palace, and inside was a winged alicorn, as terrible as the dawn. Sunset in this world radiated power, but her mere presence was filled with malice. "I said wine, not juice you incompetent fool!" Twilight went into the wall with a sickening crack and slid down. The poor mare was battered from long years of service. "Don't tell me the stocks are nearly empty!"   Sunset looked away as cries of pain followed. "Take me away from here," she whispered. "Before I get sick." ===== "What is this place?" said Sunset, looking at the town of Ponyville who was littered with ponies and humans, either side not really giving each other trusting looks. "There's humans here but... they're so young."   "This is the 15th Dimension of cross-time where you managed to control all of the humans in Equestrian City. Here, you led them as an army, but everyone was trapped on the other side once the portal closed. You managed to defeat Twilight Sparkle and her friends in this world, but the cost was too high." "So... I'm a rampaging she-demon in this world too?" Sunset sunk down to her knees. "Oh this is all wrong, I'm not like that anymore!"   "I know you're not, but this too is a cross-time possibility," said Paradox. "When you arrived here, the portal was forced shut by Celestia. But without the portal, you were unable to return home. Thus, everyone lives here now in Ponyville. There's a certain level of distrust between the humans and the ponies however."   "How are they all human still? I thought the portal changed everypony," said Sunset. "I don't know. That's something to look into, provided I'm allowed back here to explain further." Paradox checked his watch. "We should get going, before we are both noticed here. Your presence may cause undue panic." And in a flash, they left. ===== Appearing in the next world, Sunset looked around and chuckled. "What IS this place? It's so... pastel. There's pink and hearts everywhere."   "This is the 3rd Dimension. In this world, Celestia and Luna never took the throne. We are standing in Ponyville, the central hub of all of modern Equestria. To the north where Canterlot would be, is the kingdom of Unicornia, ruled by Princess Rarity." Explained Paradox. "Princess Rarity? Wow, don't tell Rarity that, she'd get a huge swelled head." Laughed Sunset. "So far, this place isn't so bad." "It's a touch saccharine for my tastes, but it is a very peaceful land. The Kingdom of Unicornia is ruled by an elected ruler each year. The mirror portal also exists here too, but is by far a lost art. There are scholars however who study it, and other kinds of magics which are performed by wand, and not unicorn horn." Paradox checked his watch. "Here comes one of the scholars now." A purple mare was strolling through the streets and Sunset almost leaped for joy. "Twilight! She's okay in this world!" "Actually she goes by the name Kimono in this world, and lives out of town in a cave. She is quite the scholar though, as her mindset would imply. You yourself live in the kingdom to the north, so your paths haven't crossed quite yet in this world. Cross-time is odd in the way that not all timelines are synchronized at all." Kimono hadn't noticed the pair standing to the side, busy with checking leaves nearby. "She is currently working on a new tea sample." "Cakes and teas must be even more numerous in this world," mused Sunset. "If this is one of the worlds that avoided my influence, the better." "Yes indeed. Though not all Equestrias are like this of course. As you've seen before, there are many possible worlds which diverge even earlier than the Sunset Prime timeline, yours in fact. Some of them diverge completely on creation. Others diverge around your tutoring by Celestia." "What about other worlds that doesn't diverge from my own?" asked Sunset. "What are they like?" "You're standing in one of them in fact, but lets see another." In a flash, they vanished, causing Kimono to look up in surprise. "That's strange, I thought I saw someone there," she muttered before going back to her leaves. ===== Appearing in a treeline, Sunset looked over at the small cottage. It really wasn't enough to call it a town, but it seemed bustling with ponies. To the side was a blonde woman who was directing them around the town. "This place is...?"   "This is the 1st Dimension, not to be confused with Sunset Prime's dimension, yours. In this world, the state of the world is in chaos. A monster named Tirek had recently enslaved many little ponies, and set his sights on their champion, the girl over there. Her name is Megan." "Huh. Am I to guess that this world is pretty... uh, what's the word, savage, compared to modern Equestria?" asked Sunset. "Indeed. This place, Dream Valley, is one of the few safe havens for the ponies of this world, and even then they are still constantly in danger from anything ranging between Gloom Witches who would eat them, to enemies like Grogar and the demons of air and shadow." Paradox shook his head. "There is little even I can do to help this dimension, the physics are all strange even by my standards." "Hey isn't that Applejack over there?" asked Sunset, pointing at the orange pony with seven apples on her flank. "Indeed. Some constants remain the same, and various ponies such as Surprise, Firefly and others are often mirrored in your Prime timeline as Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. It really is quite amazing isn't it?" Laughed Paradox. "In short, they have a long road ahead of themselves. But it will help after all when push comes to shove." "Hey, is someone in the trees?" Asked a mare who looked almost exactly like Twilight. "Megan, everyone, there's people in the trees!" "Time to go, we need to leave before we're chased down," said Paradox as Megan rounded the corner. The pair vanished, leaving behind a wash of leaves from their rapid disappearance. "Was it the Gloom Witches?" asked Firefly, landing next to Megan. "No, it was... a girl and a guy in a labcoat...?" said Megan. ===== "Ah and here we are, in another dimension. This one is quite the interesting one, as it is bustling with inter-world travel." Sunset opened her eyes to see what appeared to be some kind of receiving spaceport or facility. The skyline that could be seen through the windows however told her that this was Canterlot. "Don't worry about us not blending in here." "If you say so." Walking through the port, there were numerous ponies everywhere, and aliens of all shapes and sizes. Even a giant on two legs trundled by. "What happened to this world?" "In this world, space travel has been a thing ever since the world was young. This is the 63rd Dimension if I recall correctly, and leading them, well, take a look for yourself." Said Paradox, gesturing to a viewing area. A familiar mare with an orange coat and red hair was doing some work, dressed in a business suit. She was scribbling things before she looked up. Sunset gave her a little wave and her eyes widened before she teleported up there. "Timewalker!" She snarled. "Oh dear, I forgot," said Paradox as she punched him in the shins. "I deserved that." "He brought you here, didn't he? He knows he has a restraining order here," said the native Sunset, turning towards her younger self. "Hey, he never tells me anything. We just met!" Exclaimed Sunset Shimmer. "It's true, and I was hoping this was before the restraining order. What about the Doctors however?" said Paradox, rubbing his leg. "You didn't know? His was lifted after the Battle of Whinnipeg." Sunset rolled her eyes and gave him brief leg hug. "You don't visit as often as you should." "Restraining order. I believe it was a buck to the legs last I checked." Said Paradox. "You're not sorry at all, are you. Typical Paradox." Turning to Sunset Shimmer, she nodded at her younger self. "This guy is nothing but trouble. Keep an eye on him." "We should get going then, before I actually get that buck to the shins." With an amused twinkle in Paradox's eye, the pair vanished. ===== "Incoming Traveler alarm?" Asked Lyra, looking up. "We're not expecting any..." FLASH. And Sunset and Paradox appeared. "Oh." "Well, this is an interesting one," said Paradox. "This Dimension is hereby known as 22 and 1/2. A divergence centuries ago seeded the planet with Energon, causing it to be a prime target for off-world incursion." "I figured by the level of technology," deadpanned Sunset as Shining Armor tuned off the alarm. "You're not Shimmer are you?" said Shining. "The girl who stole Twilight's crown?" "Ugh, is this is a pattern?" groaned Sunset, face in hands. "Yes but that was a long time ago."   "I am Professor Paradox. We've never met before and I've never stepped into this sub-dimension. This is quite the honor to meet you two." Shaking hand and hoof with the pair, he looked up. "We shouldn't be here, it's a wobbly thing and I fear the Doctor has this one on strange lockdown for some reason." "Right, well I suppose that's to be expected. See you two then?" said Lyra, obviously confused on what was happening. "Take care!" And the pair vanished. ===== "What is this? This doesn't even LOOK like Equestria!" Exclaimed Sunset as the world around them resolved into a giant city. Paradox tapped his watch. "Oh dear, the ripple effect has begun to spread. We should make certain we finish our traveling before the end of the day. This world is where the 10th Dimension. But this dimension has already shifted. In this dimension, ponies who you expect to be heroes are actually different. Look." Across the road from where they stood, a massive building with the name Sparkle Industries was written on it. "Twilight has her own company?" exclaimed Sunset, shocked by the turn of events. "Yes. This world is protected by a group of superheroes they call the Power Ponies. In fact, one should be along shortly since our arrival has most likely been detected." And in a blur of motion, the pair were surrounded by a pony in a skin-tight suit. She had a bit of resemblance to Pinkie Pie but her scowl told otherwise. "All right buster, who sent you two? The Clockwork King? Maybe High Heel? Or maybe Admiral Boomerang?" "None of the above actually. We were passing through worlds when a shift in the universe sent us here," said Paradox in a jovial tone. "I am Professor Paradox, and this is my associate Sunset Shimmer. We're preparing to reboot Sunset's timeline before a shift occurs but apparently it has already happened. The Power Ponies aren't supposed to be on this dimension cycle and yet here we are."   "Urgh time travel," said Sunset, holding her head. "Did you get any of that?" "Well kinda. C'mon, lets take you to the Stables then. I think Matterhorn would like to chat with you two." Answered the costumed mare. "Oh I'm Filly-Second, the fastest thing alive."