//------------------------------// // The OO // Story: The Alley Outside of 7/11: An Anthology // by The Red Parade //------------------------------// “Equestria died yesterday.” Rarity blinked slowly before leaning back in her chair and taking off her reading glasses. “Sorry?” “Equestria died yesterday,” Twilight repeated, studying her hoof carefully. “But somehow, we’re still here.” Twilight looked around, as if taking in the world for the first time. Rarity blinked again and folded up her newspaper before setting it on the table. “Well. What makes you say that, dear?” “Because I remember it,” Twilight said. Her ears twitched as she looked around the crowded cafe terrace. Ponies in the middle of their lunch chattered around her, without a care in the world. “I shouldn’t remember it. At least, I don’t think I should.” Rarity pushed a teacup towards Twilight. “Twilight, you look horrible, dear. Please, take a drink.” Twilight pushed the cup away. “Not now. Listen, something’s wrong, Rarity. I should be dead. All of us should. But we’re not.” “Why don’t you start from the beginning?” Rarity offered.  Twilight slouched forwards and sighed, rubbing her temples. “I was carrying out experiments in the library yesterday when I noticed something. An anomaly.” “An… anomaly?” asked Rarity. “Where exactly?” “Everywhere,” Twilight said. “In everything. In all of us.” She shifted in her seat slightly, glancing around her nervously. “So I looked further. Cast some spells. Whatever happened here happened yesterday.”  “Yesterday, you say?” said Rarity patiently. “And what exactly happened yesterday?” Twilight paled. “We died,” she whispered. “I saw it all happen. Everything was gone. There was nothing left… nothing except for them.” Rarity said nothing. “The OO. They did this,” Twilight said. After a second of silence, Rarity laughed. “The OO? Dear, that sounds like an obscure band name more than it does a threat.” Twilight’s face darkened. “Rarity, this isn’t a joke! They set up bombs underneath every major Equestrian city! They wiped out all of ponykind in a day!” “Mm-hm, and why would they do so, Twilight?” asked Rarity, tapping her hoof on the tabletop. It wasn’t like Twilight to act this way, she thought.  “That’s just it! I don’t know!” Twilight slumped in her seat and growled. “I looked around and could only find some mention to ‘a threat’ that had to be stopped. So their ‘solution’ was just to kill everyone!” Rarity reached across the table and put a hoof on Twilight’s foreleg. “But, dear, how are we still alive if that’s the case?” “I don’t know,” Twilight repeated. “The OO, whoever they are, have magic and technology that eclipses my own. They rewrote reality, Rarity. They killed the world and brought it back to life again. And they could most certainly do it again.” Rarity rubbed her chin, raising an eyebrow. “...dear, I think you need some rest. You seem awfully frazzled,” she suggested. Twilight frowned but nodded slowly. “Right. Yeah. I’ll go do that.” Twilight knew that Rarity wouldn’t be back in her boutique for a while, and she knew that Sweetie Belle was off with the Crusaders somewhere. The door was easily unlocked with a simple spell, and Twilight snuck her way through the shelves and ponyquiens.  Her heart was pounding in her chest, and with every step she took she thought that she would explode. Her eyes darted from side to side, as if any second the still ponyquiens would come to life and jump out at her. She came here yesterday. She had traced the source of the explosion to Rarity’s boutique. She prayed to Celestia that today, she wouldn’t find what she had seen yesterday. Eventually, after a small eternity, she crossed the room to reach the door to Rarity’s basement. Before yesterday Twilight wasn’t even sure if Rarity had a basement. But now, that brown wooden door was etched forever into her mind. She held her breath and pushed it open, descending the staircase. The stairs creaked and groaned with every single step. When her hoof touched concrete, she took a nervous breath and lit up her horn. Her heart fell as light bathed the room. In front of her was the same device she had seen yesterday: one of twisted metal and pulsing with magic. Wires snaked across its surface and through the floors, disappearing behind panels and warning stickers. In front of the console was a single red button. “So you do remember.” Twilight whirled around to find Rarity standing behind her, a sad smile on her face. Twilight dropped into a defensive stance, lighting up her horn as she did so. “Rarity! You… you’re one of them!” Rarity dipped her head slightly. “I suppose I am, yes.” Twilight growled, her horn glowing brighter. “Why? Why would you do this?” “Perhaps I should tell you about the OO,” Rarity replied evenly. “Twilight, what do you know about the science of reality?” “Wh-what does that have to do with anything?” Rarity laughed. “Everything, my dear. There are many theories, are there not? String theory, for example. Or the idea that we are one of many realities, walking down a branch picked by chance and fate?” “What are you getting at?” “I’m saying, Twilight, that all of those theories are true, and all of those theories are wrong.” Her smile slipped away. “Yesterday, Equestria died. You are correct on that front. But what you failed to realize is that the day before that, Equestria died. And the day before that. And the day before that.” Twilight’s heart felt like it would leap from her throat. “What?” “Reality, Twilight, is not something that plays by our rules. Or, any rules that we can make anyways. One day it works, the next, not so much.” Rarity shrugged. “It’s just the way it is. But the fact of the matter is that every single day, it shifts. It isn’t always noticeable, but other times entire pages of history are rewritten.” A strange, burning feeling of dread was building in Twilight’s stomach now. “Surely you’ve noticed,” Rarity continued. “Earth ponies are suddenly pegasi the next day. Cutie marks change and appear on the wrong side of a pony’s leg. Names and family histories shift, and places come and go. You know this is true.” Twilight wanted to believe that Rarity was lying. But her mind wouldn’t let her. Because she had seen and felt what Rarity was describing. She had seen familiar ponies that were the wrong color, types, or species. She had noticed the contradictions, the inconsistencies, and the mistakes. But she chose to ignore them. “Rarity,” Twilight whispered, fear leaking into her voice. “What happened yesterday?” “You happened,” Rarity replied. “You figured out what was happening. You tried to fix it, and in doing so you doomed us all. So, we acted.” The room began to spin around Twilight. “But… I…”  “You made a failsafe,” Rarity continued, drawing closer to Twilight. “We expected you did. You’re far too smart to do otherwise. But since we couldn’t tell you yesterday, I’m telling you this now. Equestria dies every single day. But the next, it awakes reborn and anew. You just don’t realize it.” Twilight felt like throwing up. Her vision blurred and she had to gasp for air. Through her haze and fear, she saw Rarity staring back at her with calm, friendly eyes. “It’s okay, dear,” she soothed. “Today, we die, but tomorrow? Why, tomorrow, we can try again.” She went over to the red button. Twilight didn’t stop her. The world vanished in front of her. “There you are, Twilight!” Twilight looked up to see a trio of unicorns heading towards her. “Moon Dancer is having a little get-together in the west-castle courtyard. You wanna come?” asked Twinkleshine. “Oh, sorry girls. I’ve got a lot of studying to catch up on,” Twilight replied before bolting away, leaving the confused unicorns far behind. Once she was far enough away, Twilight paused. A strange thought had appeared in her mind, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to force it out. Quickly, she pulled her notebook from her saddlebags and jolted down the phrase that was plaguing her: The OO. Strange. Something to look into another day, perhaps. But before she continued, Twilight hesitated, glancing backwards before proceeding. She wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn that Minuette had a blue coat, not a green one.