//------------------------------// // Day Three (Part 2) // Story: Observations // by Tolerance //------------------------------// ~Day 3 Continued~ The disorientation I felt after that trip was nothing like I had ever felt from any of my previous teleportation attempts. In those, one's body knows it is traveling, and responds in kind. This type of spell, which I believe operates on principles of Translocation, throws one's head into a spin as if it knew that it was where it shouldn’t be. This form of transportation was not going to catch on very fast. At least now the floor matched the rest of the floor. “Congratulations Twilight, you're just in time to observe one of the greatest moments in history! Here today, I will finally open the gate to another world!” I jerked my self up off of the stone and attempted to dash toward his workstation only to slam, snout-first, into some sort of glowing, green force-field. “What is this?” “Just another sample of what Flux is capable of, my dear, and although I'm not sure how you managed to re-activate my translocation spell, you will find that this glyph will be far harder to bypass. This field of pure magic is maintained by the runes on this side. It is completely impenetrable while there is enough Flux to power it.” “It wasn't just me who activated your spell, and as soon as they're able, Princess Luna and the others will get here to help me stop you!” “Ah so that's how you managed it. I've always suspected that you were in communication with others concerning my affairs, I just wasn't sure as to whom it might be. It does not matter, even an alicorn won't be able to break this barrier, Not before my test has been completed anyway.” “Princess Luna told me who she thought you really are, your real name is Starswirl, isn't it?! Well the Starswirl I know would never abduct a helpless pony just so they could experiment on them. He would never even think of harming somepony! Just how is Pinkie supposed to help you open a gate to another world anyway?” “So she did manage to figure it out, well, most of it anyway. It's too late to turn back in any case, so I'll let you in on my little project. What I am building here is not just a gate to any world, but a gate to all of them. At least all of ours. As my theory stands, our world is connected to many other worlds just like it, almost exactly the same, conceptually. There may be, however, some subtle differences. Maybe the you in one of these other worlds decided she didn't want to eat oatmeal for breakfast this morning, and instead chose an apple. A seemingly harmless detail, lost among all of the other minutia.” “What does my choice for breakfast have to do with anything?” “You still don't get it, every choice you make has consequences, an infinite number of worlds with an infinite number of outcomes. Imagine what alternate choices might have done to our world. What if the princesses decided to not rule over the lesser races, but instead, had kept to the background as they had done since the beginning of time? What would our world be like then? This machine is the gateway to such worlds, and Ms. Pie here is the Key to it all.” I was dumbstruck by what Stein, now Starswirl, had to say. The possibilities! For all of the times in my life where I had made a wrong decision, there was a world out there where nothing had ever gone wrong. A perfect world. But what of my friend? I couldn't just use her, or anypony, as a tool just to see what could have been. No! I would not accept, I could not accept what, Starswirl was doing. Nothing was worth sacrificing others to obtain. And the fact that somepony I had nothing but respect for, a pony who had an entire section of the Canterlot Royal Archives named after them, could do such a thing! Before that moment, I had never felt as much anger as did towards my old Idol at that point in time. “NO! I won't let you use my friend as some sort of tool just so you can see some other world that may or may not even exist. You can't do this Starswirl. I. WON'T. LET. YOU!” I charged up all of the energy I could manage before I unleashed it upon the Flux-powered field. The contact between the offensive and defensive energies was enough to shake the cavern. The barrier held fast, but I quickly realized that, even if I was unable to destroy the shield, I might still be able to chip away at the rock around it. “Stop this at once! Are you trying to bring the ceiling down on top of us?” called Starswirl. “Twilight! Please stop!” This time from Pinkie, the strain in her voice audible even through the loud clashing of energies. I did stop. “But Pinkie, he's just using you. All for some delusion of his.” “That's not what this is about though. In the short time I've known him, I've never seen Mr. Stein smile. Not once. But when he was telling you about his plan to open the gates or whatever, I could tell then, that he was truly happy.” “That may be, but what he's doing is dangerous. That machine that you've got there, what is it capable of? I imagine that all of the energy required to power a hole in our world isn't safe to be around at all!” “I assure you, Twilight, that I am taking every precaution.” “See, He doesn't want to hurt anypony. He just wants to do his Sciency thing.” Pinkie replied. “Is that true? Can you promise that no harm will come to my friend?” “Just as soon as my machine is finished, then all of my safegaurds will be in place.” Starswirl answered. “If you're okay with this, Pinkie, then there's not much I can do to say no, is there? But if She's willing to help you, Starswirl, the least you could do is untie her. It isn't helping your case any.” “Fine, as long as she stays out of my way. This procedure is very delicate.” With a simple flicker of magic the bonds were gone, and Starswirl continued with his work. Now that I had calmed a bit, all I had left to do on my side of the barrier was to observe the machine which was reportedly nearing completion. The process of construction was deceptively simple. Starswirl had more vials, of what could only be Flux, floating around him. The red colored one I recognized from the sample I had earlier, the blue and the yellow vials I could assign to some of the other types of magic crystal. The fourth vial, much larger than the others, was filled with an opaque, almost opalescent, white substance that would readily absorb whatever mixture of Flux that Starswirl had prepared. This was usually the final step in the production of the individual components of the machine before they were installed. Each piece was first shaped into a general structure, out of the white 'filler' material, which was held entirely within the confines of Starswirl's magic. Then a mixture of the different Flux types was added to the white 'filler'. The combination was seemingly mixed in exacting proportions in order for it to produce a specific material when added to the filler. Whether the process was chemical or alchemical in nature was difficult to ascertain, but the results were clear. Starswirl was able to build a very complex machine using only the materials he was able to conjure from the Flux. Starswirl seemed to notice my attentive observation of his progress. “Magnificent isn't it? While Flux does contain vast amounts of magical energy, the Prima Materia allows the energies to transform into solid structures.” “So it is Alchemy then.” “Not quite, while my work with Flux borrows ideas from alchemical studies, the belief that it is possible to create substance from nothing is impossible. All I am doing here is converting energy, stored within a substrate, into matter.” “To be honest, I had no idea that something like this was even possible. It makes me wonder why you're so dismissive of this stuff.” “Because it's not my work!” Starswirl said, voice risen. “What do you mean? I've never heard of the stuff before and I consider myself a student of the magical arts. You're Starswirl the Bearded! If you didn't come up with it then who did?” “I'm sorry, I did create the Flux, but I based the idea off of sompony else's theories. That's why this gateway is so important. It is the first true research project of mine that is based entirely on my work, and my work alone. Nopony else, to my knowledge, has ever even heard of multiple worlds theory, no doubt all thanks to your beloved princesses.” The confused look on my face must have been exactly what he was looking for as he continued on. “I know you have some innate connection with the rulers of Equestria, but I knew them before this country was even founded, before they even decided to place themselves at the very seat of government. No, by the time I had met either of them they were still content to simply help anypony they came across. They were always interested in any magical research that was happening at the time, the darker one especially. It was only when I had announced the multiple world theories to them that the lighter one showed her disapproval. She quickly and quietly cut all funding for the project as well as had all records destroyed. In no time at all, the one project that had transcended what was known about the world, was gone. I vowed that day to begin anew once another subject had revealed themselves.” “I've known the Princess for years and I know that she would never seek to stop something without a reason. You must have been something as unethical as abducting ponies in order to earn her scorn.” “That wasn't the case at all. The last Key was eager to perform, almost as eager as I. She bore a remarkable resemblance to Ms. Pie here, with the exception of coat color and wings of course. In the end, she too was taken from me. No, the reason my prior research was stopped was left at the cryptic 'This world is not ready for such things, you should continue to focus your research in the areas of your other successes.' Shortly thereafter, I came up with the plan you see coming to fruition today.” “So you think that the world is ready for your project now?” “I never believed it wasn't. The only reason I am here now is the fact that your requests for certain information happened to trigger the spell that awoke me. Luckily, the statue in which I resided had maintained a certain level of fame. Enough so that it would survive the weathering of time and be relocated to a safe place as needed. So now I stand here before you, ready to complete my work. Nothing can halt the progress of science!” Starswirl clicked the last piece of his machine into place. It's final form included three curved spars that centered around a central point. A total of six circular devices were attached to each end of the spars and every one of them was wired to a platform and a control panel located off to the side. “Oh, oh! Can I do something now Mr. Stein?” “Haven't you been listening? His real name is Starswirl, Starswirl the Beared.” “But he doesn't have much of a beard, silly. He needs to have at least sixty-three percent more beard for me to call him that.” “Unfortunately, neither the bells on my cloak nor my namesake beard survived the awakening spell intact. Regardless, Ms. Pie, if you could kindly step aboard the platform here,” he gestured to the platform next to the control bench, “then we can finish this.” “Okie doki loki!” “Wait, you never did explain why Pinkie was needed to open the gate. If she is going to go through with this then she should get an explanation at least.” “Ms. Pie's 'Pinkie Sense' is what I believe to be an intricate link to other versions of herself in some of the other worlds. Her predictive behavior is the result of unfortunate consequences that have yet to manifest. The reason for this, I believe, is that these other worlds are slightly farther into the future than our own. It also stands to reason that there might be worlds which exist in our own past as well. By using Ms. Pie as the basis for specific energy signatures, I'll be able to amplify them with increasing amounts of magical energy until the gate is forced open.” “Ooh, Ooh! I wanna throw the lever!” “That's my-” Pinkie was across the room throwing the main switch and then back on the pedestal before he could object, “-job...” Static energies quickly started to jump from each of the devices on the spars to a central point between them. There was a bright flash and then it appeared. I can only describe it as a dark tear, rough around its edges, which lacked color altogether. When I moved to get a little perspective on the tear I perceived no change at all. It looked exactly the same from all angles that I could see it from. “Alright, you opened your gate. Now what?” That's when I noticed him standing over Pinkie, who had lost consciousness sometime during the start-up. “Pinkie Pie! Are you okay?” “She'll be fine, she's only resting.” Starswirl turned from the sleeping mare and walked towards his workbench, where among the clutter he had installed some gauges. “This is it, Twilight. The link appears stable.” “So now what? If you are right and there are an infinite number of worlds that that thing connects to, how are you going to navigate through it to find what you want?” “Let's not be hasty, Twilight, I only intended to open the gateway. More study is required before it can be deemed safe for anypony to travel through it.” “Oh, so now you're worried about safety?” “I'll admit that this is as far as I have ever gotten, but I am not incompetent. After they took Surprise away, I promised that I would never let anything endanger somepony I-” just as he approached the tear, it began to destabilize. Starswirl quickly pulled out his blue Flux and and poured some of it into his magic, forming an intricate glyph mid-air, and pointed it towards the rift. “See, I told you I have taken precautions,” he said, his suppression seemingly working, he walked over to his gauges once more, “The gateway is starting to destabilize. I guess it has remained open long enough. Time to shut it down.” He flipped the switch that Pinkie had thrown earlier, but nothing happened. We both realized that something was wrong almost immediately, “Starswirl, what's happening!?” I say with a little alarm. “The gateway is getting power from somewhere else!” he briefly deactivated his suppression glyph, causing the rift to shake violently–breaking one of the machine's spars. “And I don't believe it's coming from this world. Twilight, I'm going to need you to take Ms. Pie back with you the way you came in,” He put up three more suppression glyphs and placed them in a staggered perimeter around the rift, “this place is no longer safe." Sensing his concerns, I ask, “Isn't there anything I can do to help?” “NO! You must leave at once,” he used his magic to gouge a hole into the glyph operating the green barrier, causing the flux to pool up and the barrier to collapse. “But-” it was all I could say before he unceremoniously threw Pinkie at me with telekinesis, knocking us both back onto the transport glyph in a heap, “Ow, could you be more careful?” “I'll not endanger you any longer. Now GO!” The look on his face was stern with concentration as he struggled to keep the gateway steady. I didn't argue any further, I only activated the transport spell. ~@~ More ponies had arrived at the alleyway back in town, whether due to the sudden appearance of your sister in town, or the sudden pulses of magic that the glyph emitted when activated, I did not stay long enough to find out. I quickly pushed Pinkie off the area affected by the transport spell and activated the glyph once more. “Take care of Pinkie, I have to go back and help him.” “Wait Twilight Sparkle, I have nearly recovered and should be there to assist in his apprehension.” Luna declared. “There's no time to-” was all I could say before the world disappeared once more. ~@~ “-waste.” I finished. I steadied myself from my momentary disorientation. The rift had grown noticeably in size, even though Starswirl had added more suppression glyphs to the gateway in my absence. “What are you doing? I've warned you away for a reason!” “You need my help to stop this. You can't have enough magic left to hold this problem off for long by yourself.” to prove my point, I forced what was left of the Flux in the vials that had been discarded on the floor and copied Starswirl's glyph exactly. “Very well. Thank you, Twilight, for returning to help me.” “I didn't do it for you. It's my duty to the princesses to remove threats to Equestria, and your gateway is proving to be one of them at the moment.” “I see.” “Do you have a plan to stop this or something?” “In a manner of speaking, do you remember me explaining how I've managed to stay alive for as long as I have?” “A few moments ago I didn't even know who you were for certain. But didn't you say something about a statue?” “Correct. I sealed myself in stone, magic and all. Disguised as a statue that would only be revealed a few years after my disappearance, so that it could be added to either a museum, or a park until such a time when the awakening spell could be activated. I believe they named the statue A Tribute to Magic or something.” “And what exactly does that have to do your plan?” “I might be able to seal this up using the same spell.” “So, then what's the problem?” “I developed the spell in order to seal myself away in stone. It only works on the pony who casts it.” “Can't we break you out of it like you did last time?” “You underestimate what it took to devise the trigger I used. There simply isn't enough time.” “Then there has to be another way, we could-” “No! There isn't any time for anything else. I... It must be this way. I'm not so sure that I want to be remembered for this. As the sort of pony that was willing to potentially harm others just for the sake of the very spell that's trying to destroy us. I made this, and I'll hold myself responsible. Let me do this one last thing Twilight.” I could only stand there and look at him. One of the greatest minds concerning the field of magical studies was willing to sacrifice himself. What could I say to him? “Okay, but what if it doesn't work?” “It must work. It is the only thing we have left." "Then just do it already!" I yelled, shouting just to be heard over the sound coming from the rift. "Thank you, Twilight Sparkle, for everything. Now, quickly, take a hold of these glyphs for a bit.” “Alright, I've got them. Are you ready to go?” “Almost. Just one more thing, Twilight, you said that the Starswirl that you knew from history would never do the things that I've done here today. I would be honored if it could stay that way, but if you deem it necessary to let others know what I’ve done here, I'll understand. It occurs to me now that the Alicorn may have known more than what she spoke of when she stopped me the last time. She never was any good at explaining her motives. Alas, I bid you farewell, Twilight, you have a bright future ahead of you.” He placed a protective bubble over himself and jumped into the malformed gateway. Almost immediately, the tear began to rein itself in. The force pulling towards its center was incredible. I lost my grip on the suppression glyphs, and was worried I would be pulled in myself for a moment. I dropped to the floor, but it wasn't necessary. Starswirl's gamble had paid off. The rift was sealed. In the gateway's place was a perfect sphere of missing granite where the machine had once been. A pulsing, jagged crystal, slightly smaller than the size of a dinner plate, was all that remained of the once great unicorn and his self proclaimed 'greatest achievement.' No small amount of energy was still coming from the crystal, so I decided against picking it up for now. Instead I made my way towards his workbench. The gauges had all been torn away, and many of the materials that sat upon the table had been strewn about the cavern. Canisters of what remained of Starswirl's Flux sat next to one of the real articles of interest–Starwirl's journal. I picked it up and was about to start going through it when Princess Luna activated the transport glyph. Noticing her disorientation, I set the journal down and rushed to her aid. “I do not look forward to using this form of transport anytime soon,” Luna said, gaining her bearings in the dimly lit cave. “Where has Starswirl gone off to? We were supposed to apprehend him.” “He's gone.” Was all I said, still unsure what to think of the whole situation. “I see,” Luna said after a moment, surveying the room. “What exactly was he attempting to do here that required the presence of Pinkamena?” “Before I answer, do you mind if I ask you something?” “Twilight, you do not need to ask for permission.” “Yes, well then, just how did you figure out that Stein was really Starswirl?” “To be honest, I'm not quite sure when I figured out exactly who he was, after all, I thought that the great Starswirl the Bearded had passed on eons ago. I'd only met him a few times back then, but I do remember what his personality was like. When my memory of him finally struck me is when I had to double check the details on the recent crimes in Canterlot. I must say that if it weren't for Discord's previous escape the thought wouldn't have struck me at all.” “What made everypony think that Starswirl had died?” “Things back then were not as they are now, Twilight. If I remember the stories correctly, he had set out to obtain some rare magical reagents as he often did, and simply never returned.” “Then that's where the broken statue comes in.” “Precisely. Starswirl had apparently figured out how to seal himself in stone. Before he did, He convinced somepony else to donate it as a monument some years after his disappearance. ” “He said something about leaving a trigger that would awaken him if a search was run for some specific information. I'm guessing it was set to flag an inquiry into predictive behavior. A trigger which I had activated. Unfortunately, Starswirl didn't have time to set up another trigger before he left.” “Then he is sealed within a statue once more? I do not see one.” “No statue, just the crystal sitting in the crater over there. That's all that's left of him and his experiment.” “So he really is gone then. A shame. I admittedly was not as interested, at least as much as my sister was, in most of Starswirl's research. From what little I did know, he would never have gone so far as committing the crimes he hath performed today. He was only focused on learning the magical arts, especially the ones involving the other clans.” “From what I understand, his motivation had something to do with an acquaintance of his named Surprise, and the fact that a project he was working on at the time were both taken from him.” “I do not recall such a thing occurring, though the name Surprise does ring a bell. She was a white Pegasus that had lived with mine sister and I in the castle for some time. A time shortly before... before Starswirl had gone missing, actually. I do believe they may have been acquaintances of some sort before then.” “Then you really had no idea what it was the Starswirl had been up to?” “No, but I do intend to have a serious discussion with mine own sister when I return to the castle.” “Well, even I don't understand, fully, what Starswirl was up to, but I do know is that he was attempting to open up a gateway between worlds. He said that every decision can result in multiple worlds existing as a result of each choice made. At least, I think that that was what he was saying. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. What I do know is, that whatever happened in the past was what caused his actions today.” “He came up with a theory regarding multiple worlds? I was unaware of anything like that existing.” “I think it has moved a little beyond theory at this point, he did manage to open his gateway after all.” “With such a machine as this was, I am sure anything was possible. Is this all of his research documentation over here?” Luna asked, motioning towards the workbench. “As far as I know. I think I'll head back and let the others know that this is all over, and that I'm fine.” “Very well,” she said, looking up from some of the papers strewn about, “I've already sent for some guards to ensure that this, laboratory, as it seems, can be secured.” Your sister, at this point, must have noticed that my attention had focused elsewhere. “Is something the matter?” “No, it's nothing really, just make sure that you take extra good care of that crystal.” I gestured towards the crater. “Not only is it the final memento of one of the greatest magical minds to ever exist, but if the gate sealed within were to open up, nopony else knows the spell to seal it back up again.” “I see. Then I will attend to it myself. Take care, Twilight.” With nothing else left to do, I activated the transport glyph and left. ~@~ Back on the surface, I was happy to learn that my friends had recovered. I asked Fluttershy and Rarity to send for the rest of our group so that we might meet up later. I wanted to let them know about everything that had happened, and to explain why I had been so secretive the night before. Curious to learn of any events that may have occurred between Pinkie Pie and Starswirl before I arrived in his lab, I had Pinkie follow me to the library in order to have her discuss her ordeal. The resulting transcript of that discussion has already been placed above. Soon after, I was able to tell my friends about everything that had happened involving the pony they knew as Stein, at least as far as his project goes. I'm hesitant to tell them of his true identity, but I'm not entirely sure as to why. I doubt I'll ever truly understand his motivations. What I do know is that I would like some serious answers from you, Princess Celestia. I know that Luna had no knowledge as to what happened to Starswirl before his disappearance. Since he mentioned an Alicorn's involvement, that can only leave you. Why did you do it? Starswirl was arguably one of the most cunning researchers of all time. He almost single hoofedly brought about a magical golden age. So why then did you repay him for all of his work by taking away his research and his friend? How can I be sure that you'll never do the same to me? Surely there was some other approach you could have used to get Starswirl to seek another field of research, if you felt his current one was too dangerous? Please, I need answers to these questions. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle