//------------------------------// // Equestria X-215 // Story: The Many Sparkle Interpretation // by chillbook1 //------------------------------// Twilight, Spike and TX tumbled through the portal, their hooves touching down on hard, cold steel. TX immediately left Twilight and Spike behind, running through the room while they got their bearings. Twilight peered around, her mouth slightly agape. If this was TX’s home, she couldn’t wait to see the rest of X-215. They appeared to be on a catwalk of sorts, a balcony that wrapped itself around pulsating beam of glowing green light that shot from the bottom of the structure all the way up and out the opened ceiling. There were monitors and computer interfaces lining the catwalk, and a flight of stairs leading downwards. TX was already halfway down the stairs, and Twilight had to break into a quick jog to catch up. “What’re we doing here?” asked Twilight. “Not right now, please, I’m about to break at least three different laws of interdimensional travel,” said TX. “I’d like to do so without being bombarded by questions. Keep up, TC, we don’t have time to spare.” Twilight kept up pace with TX, following her down into a large, circular room. Near the base of the green beam was a metal well of sorts, which had countless buttons, switches, and levers on its surface. Several doors dotted the wall, some open and leading to dark corridors and some closed and mysterious. TX rushed to the center console and immediately began tapping away. “Girls!” shouted TX. “I need you! Now! Code Gold!” The sounds of hooves on steel tapped into the room, two mares coming along to coincide with the noise. To Twilight’s surprise, the girls to which TX had called wasn’t any of her fellow Element bearers. That said, she most assuredly recognized them. “What is it, Twilight Snarkle?” demanded Starlight Glimmer, clearly uninterested in the situation. “Starlight Glimmer was preparing to take a nap!” “Shut up, Glimmer, this is important,” said TX. “Hurry up! Get to your station!” “What do you plan to do?” asked Trixie. “Are you sure about—” “Not now, please, Trixie. Station. Now!” Trixie nodded, then ran around the console and took position a bit to TX’s right. Starlight did the same on the other side, the both of them tapping at buttons and pulling switches much like TX did. “What can I do?” asked Twilight. “You can sit where you are and keep quiet,” said TX, not even looking at Twilight. “We’re about to do something incredibly dangerous and I need everyone involved to know what they’re doing.” “What are you doing, Snarkle?” asked Starlight. “Starlight is a very busy—” “Trixie, tell your friend to shut up,” ordered TX. “Starlight, we need to focus,” said Trixie. “Is the receiver tuned on your end?” “Is it tuned? Of course it’s tuned! Starlight is the—” “Glimmer, I will send you to the sun! You’re off by point-oh-oh-three-nine degrees! Fix it, now!” shouted TX. The floor began to tremble and shake, like the rumblings of a small earthquake. “Increase the opening by a factor of nine.” “Nine? Twilight, don’t you think that’s a bit much?” asked Trixie. “It’s on the other end of the multiverse, and I’d rather not take any chances. The Table is just going to have to suck it up and deal with it.” TX flipped a lever down and snarled at one of the screens in front of her. “Damn it, Starlight, spread the opening! Now!” “Fine! Fine! Starlight is increasing the opening by a factor of six,” said Starlight. “Nine! Factor of nine!” “That’s what Starlight said!” The room trembled again, this time enough to cause Twilight to stumble and fall. TX was laser focused on her console, calibrating and tuning her tower with the help of her two friends. Twilight simply watched in awe; Trixie and Starlight of X-215 were very different than Twilight could have ever been prepared for. “Brace yourself!” called TX. “Tier 4 tremor incoming!” The ground beneath them shook with such intensity that Twilight feared that the planet would split in half. Spike held onto Twilight for dear life, as if afraid that letting go would spell the end for them both. “Glimmer, Trixie, at the ready!” TX grabbed a key in the console, as did Starlight and Trixie. “Ready!” reported Trixie. “Starlight has been waiting for you,” said Starlight with a yawn. “And turn in three! Two! One!” The three mares turned their keys simultaneously. The shaking stopped, the light vanished, and the room went deathly silent. Then, in an explosion of light and sound, everything returned in full force. The tower’s light shifted from green to gold, boring a hole through the very sky. Twilight could barely keep her head on straight from the intense quaking tremors, which slowed to an eventual stop. TX panted, staring at a screen on the console. A green wavelength danced across the screen, jagged as lightning. She watched tensely for a few moments until the wavelength stabilized, eventually plateauing entirely. “And we’re stable,” sighed TX. “Good job, girls. Yes, Starlight, even you.” “Of course Starlight did a good job! She is the greatest quantum physicist this or any reality has ever seen!” declared Starlight. “Wow,” said Spike with a roll of the eyes. “Who does she sound like?” “I never thought I’d prefer the crazy cult leader persona,” muttered Twilight. “Trixie, get them settled in,” said TX. “I've got to go calm the townsfolk. They're going to have questions. Answer what you can, but try not to overwhelm them.” TX and Trixie shared a glance for a moment before Trixie nodded her agreement. TX sighed tiredly, then ran out through one of the doors of the tower. “So, you guys hungry?” asked Trixie. “Starlight was just about to make lunch.” “Starlight was about to do no such thing!” exclaimed Starlight. “Starlight is no short-order cook!” “But Starlight is the inventor of the greatest hayburger recipe in the multiverse,” said Trixie with a small smirk. “It would be a shame, nay, a travesty if these two never got to taste one.” “Hm… It seems that Starlight’s genius is finally rubbing off on you. One of the perks of being best friends with the greatest mare to ever live!” Starlight briskly trotted for a door across from the exit TX took. “Report to the dining room and prepare to have your taste buds blown clean off your tongue!” “Sometimes, all it takes is a little flattery,” said Trixie with a chuckle. “Come on. It's just through here.” Twilight could barely function enough to follow Trixie through the door, down the hall, and into the dining area. She and Spike sat down almost mechanically, as if their brains had left and their bodies were on autopilot. “You seem kinda shell-shocked,” said Trixie. “Being in a whole new world can be a bit overwhelming.” “It's not the world so much,” said Spike, staring at Trixie as if she had sprouted a second head. “It's the ponies in it.” “What do you mean?” “Trixie, were you a stage magician in the past?” asked Twilight. “No… That was Starlight’s thing,” said Trixie curiously. “Well, I did help her with a manticore trick, so I guess I was a stagehoof or something. That's sort of like a magician.” “What about a cult?” asked Spike. “Did Starlight ever steal all of the Cutie Marks from a village in the middle of nowhere?” “Er… No. That was…” Trixie shrank down slightly, her face bright red from blush. “That was me.” “This is the weirdest thing we've seen so far,” said Spike. “Agreed.” Twilight put a hoof to her head, feeling the start of a migraine come along. “This is uncanny…” “What do you mean? Do you have a me in your reality that's different?” asked Trixie. “Where we come from, your past and mannerisms are switched with Starlight’s,” said Twilight. “You’re the rude megalomaniac. Where I come from, you’re my rival. Or you think you’re my rival. Or my archnemesis or something.” “Sounds like Starlight, for sure. Half of time we’re supposed to be running calculations, Starlight is trying to one-up Twilight,” said Trixie with a nod. “Uh… My Twilight. From here. Where are you guys from again?” “C-317.” “Ooh, a magic one! You’ve gotta tell me about it! There’s not a lot of magic here. I can hardly do any.” “Actually, Trixie, I’ve got some questions for you first, if you don’t mind,” said Twilight. Trixie nodded. “What exactly did you just do?” “We took energy from another reality and beamed it all at yours,” said Trixie. “Why would we do that?” asked Spike. “Well, I don’t actually know. Twilight just told us to do it, so we did. It would make your reality invisible if somepony was trying to find it, but I don’t know why she’d need that done. I’m sure she’ll explain herself soon enough.” “We’re sorta on the run from a Twilight-killer,” said Spike. “From S-169, I think is what they said.” Trixie’s face paled considerably, her expression displaying fear and confusion in equal measure. “Y-you must be mistaken,” she said. “S-169? That must be wrong.” “No, that’s right. TX had the same reaction,” said Twilight. “She said that Twilight S-169 should be dead. Can you tell me why?” “Er… I don’t know all the details. Twilight hasn’t told us everything, and it’s not really my business,” said Trixie. “Anything I could tell you would be conjecture and speculation, and a violation of Twilight’s privacy. She should be the one to tell you.” Twilight frowned. That was not a very satisfactory response. She needed more information in order to feel at ease. Still, she could understand Trixie’s unwillingness to part with her friend’s secrets. She knew that, were roles reversed and in her own reality, her Starlight would do much the same. “Alright, well, explain the mechanics of that,” said Twilight. “How does bombarding my reality with energy make it invisible?” “Well, we can’t physically observe other multiverses because there’s no light in the spaces between them, so we have to rely on energy outputs. By showering your reality with energy from another, they cancel each other out and it looks, to the Containers, like empty space.” “Fascinating. You seem to know a lot about how the realities work. How long have you studied them?” “Seven years. The last four have been with Twilight. I learned more in those four years than I ever could’ve learned alone,” said Trixie. “Starlight is newer to things, only about four years of study in total. She’s a quick learner, though. She studies really hard.” “Is somepony talking about Starlight?” Starlight Glimmer came through the door, pushing a cart that held a platter stacked with burgers for them to consume. “Her ears are burning.” “I was just telling them about how hard you work,” said Trixie. “And how well you understand the multiverse.” “Oh, but of course! Starlight excels at everything she attempts!” declared Starlight. “Which is why it is positively perplexing why Twilight Snarkle refuses to take her out on her adventures across the multiverse! Starlight could be so helpful! One week of travelling with me and I guarantee that Snarkle would have the entire multiverse mapped and catalogued.” Trixie chuckled, then rose from her seat to serve the food. She slid a plate to Twilight and Spike before laying out one for Starlight and finally herself. Again, Twilight and Spike were baffled; Seeing Trixie doing anything for anypony other than herself was so strange to them. “How’d you two come across this reality’s Twilight?” asked Twilight. “I met my Trixie when she brought her travelling magic show to Ponyville and I fought my Starlight because of the whole cult thing.” “Pretty much the same here, just switch the names,” said Trixie. “That’s ancient history, though. We barely even resemble our past selves. Heck, I don’t even know if Starlight knows any card tricks anymore.” “Ha! I’ll have you know, the Grand and Mighty Starlight can do far more than mere card tricks!” declared Starlight. “For Starlight is the most mystical, magical pony to ever live!” Spike nudged Twilight with her elbow, a mischievous grin wide on his face. He didn’t need to speak to communicate his idea to Twilight, who understood and agreed with a silent nod and a matching smirk. She lit up her horn, wrapping all four plates in her purple glow. With a flash and a pop, they vanished, only to reappear in a stack on top of Starlight’s head. She teleported them back to their original position, then, more to show off than anything, changed them all blue, then turned them to apples, and finally returned them to their original form. “Starlight doesn’t like this game anymore…” Starlight all but sobbed as she buried her face in a burger. Twilight, Spike, and Trixie all shared a laugh at Starlight’s expense, removing a layer of tension that had bogged the two down ever since arrived in Z-544. As the laughter died out, Twilight noticed something odd. In her reality, if she had decided to make the ground quake beneath their hooves for one reason or another, she wouldn’t be able to just sit down and eat a burger. In her reality, she’d be answering the questions of five ponies who would be there to help in any way they could. “Hey, where are the others?” asked Twilight. Trixie stopped her laughing and tilted her head in confusion. “Others?” she said, clearly confused. “Other what?” “You know, my other friends. Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow. Where are they?” Trixie glanced nervously at Starlight, who seemed equally concerned. For a few moments, nopony said anything. Then, when it became clear that she would be receiving no help, Trixie stepped up to the plate. “Did… Did our Twilight explain to you how Constancy works?” asked Trixie. “Sort of. Why?” “Well… Certain events, ponies, places, and concepts just seem to exist in some capacity, no matter the reality in question. We call them Constants. They emit a very particular sort of energy that isn’t found anywhere else in the multiverse. You and Spike are Constants, but Starlight and I aren’t. The others… Well, there are things that we can’t prove or disprove the constancy of.” “Like my friends,” said Twilight, unable to imagine life without the others. “So… They just don’t exist in your reality?” “Something like that. If you want specifics, I suggest you ask Twilight.” This time, Twilight was a bit less understanding. This wasn’t Trixie protecting her friend’s privacy. This was her dodging a question, and that was something that annoyed Twilight to no end. She was about to press Trixie for more information when she was interrupted by the sound of reality splitting. A shimmering portal ripped open next to Trixie, which spat out the one mare Twilight wanted to talk to more than anyone at the moment. TX closed the portal behind herself, clearly worse for wear. Twilight couldn’t even bring herself to begin interrogating TX at the moment, for fear of making her condition worse. She was nearly hyperventilating, cold sweat dripping from her brow. “Are you okay?” asked Trixie. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” “I wish it was a ghost. TC, we’ve got a train to catch,” said TX shakily. “Trixie, Starlight, keep an eye on Spike and monitor the Tower. Make sure C-317 stays invisible. If you need to send more energy, open up a portal to a dead reality. We probably won’t be back until tomorrow.” “Where are we going?” asked Twilight. TX sighed, rubbing her forehead tiredly. “Canterlot Castle. We’ve been summoned.” TX smiled weakly. “You get to see my version of Celestia. Let's go see the Queen.”