"Delivery for Twilight Sparkle," the grey courier said, offering her a small package.
"That'll be me," she replied and took the package into her magic. Knowing who'd sent it, there was no need for formalities, and she shut the door on him. "Now what's this?" she murmured to herself, walking back to her favorite reading spot. She ripped it open, revealing that it was indeed another book, accompanied by a short letter. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, hmm hmm hmm. Masterwork, bla bla bla. The only one, phrases phrases. Another spell, huh?" She rifled through the pages. There was a lifetime's worth of ancient knowledge and magic casually scribbled down onto each of them, most of which she already knew, but her target was further back. "From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny, singled out alone fulfilled." She paused to listen for any incoming tsunamis, earthquakes, or other catastrophes. However, all that she heard were a few late insects still chirping, interrupted by the hoots of a certain owl preying on them. "Nothing? Well, that was disappointing." A brief yawn tore her out of her train of thought. "Eh, go to bed, self."
An all too short ten hours later, Twilight awoke to the gentle, yet unbelievably piercing, song of the birds outside her window. Perhaps she could just stay in bed and nopony would notice. Rubbing the remaining sleep out of her eyes, she realised that was not going to happen. Thus, she rose, exacted petty revenge by scaring the birds away when she opened the window, and said to nopony in particular, "Ah, morning in Ponyville. Wait, why is the sky checkered? Guess Rainbow will have a reason to do it. Daily routine part one complete, move on to part two, coffee. I like that one."
No matter what disturbed her, she could always find peace within the depths of her steaming beverage, especially when she drank it indoors. For a few minutes, she'd be able to surround herself with the silent order of her books, always immaculate, never shifting. It was one of her last points of respite against the everchanging haste of Ponyville. At least, until an energetic knock on the door tore her out of it again. Since that section was the public library, she magicked open the door without asking. Without any greetings, a white-coated mare with grey hair came in, followed closely by a stallion of the exact inverted colour scheme. "Can I help you?" Twilight asked, more out of business than actual desire to aid.
"Do not mind us," the mare said in an accent that confused Twilight. Judging by the sound of it, that mare came from the city of Canterlot, yet there was no horn to be seen on either of them. Perhaps they were part of the one percent of Canterlot's population that was made up of nonicorns, earth ponies or pegasi born of unicorn parents. Perhaps they'd moved there as youngsters. Or perhaps she was thinking too deeply into things again.
"We already have what we seek. There it is," the stallion added, pulling an inconspicuous book from the shelves. He opened it for a moment, allowing his companion a look inside.
"That will have done," the mare said and laid it on the table, next to Twilight. "Thank you, and have an enjoyable moment."
The two gave her a brief bow and left, closing the door behind them. "Right. Whatever they were up to. Which book is this, anyway? Hitchhiker's Guide to the Multiverse. Ah yes." Like most of her library, she'd already read this one. Then again, nothing spoke against another go. Knowing its contents, she didn't expect much, though. "A million million worlds, alternate realities, planes of existence, hmm hmm. Bah, tell me something interesting." She downed the rest of her coffee in a single swig and rose to her hooves. "No use sitting around here, might as well go enjoy life in Ponyville, where everything is perfectly fine." A small chuckle escaped her. "Whom am I kidding, it never is."
So far, Ponyville was still to surprise Twilight with its newest crises. There just weren't any fires, monsters, or tornadoes anywhere in sight. Neither did anypony to whom she talked seem to have problems which she could help solve. It seemed to be nothing more than another day in Ponyville for everyone to enjoy. They'd be well within their right to do so, too, as the sun stood up high, accompanied by a light breeze to cool off those who'd gotten too much of its blessed warmth. In short, there was nothing wrong with Ponyville. Except for the patterned clouds, of course, but she was ready to hold faith in her friends.
She wasn't entirely convinced yet, though, and decided to end her round at the market. If it turned out that she'd get a rare chance to live her normal life, she'd have to go there anyway. Once there, everything was in perfect order as well. She sighed and let herself drift with the masses until she spotted the usual apple stand worked by an unusual pony.
Seeing Pinkie Pie in unexpected places was hardly strange, Twilight could imagine lots of reasons why she would end up there. What did give her worries however was that Pinkie's mane and tail had once again straightened up. Whenever they did, it served as a clear sign that a friendship intervention was necessary. "Hey there Pinkie Pie," she said, approaching the stand. "What's pulling you down?"
"Hey Twilight." Pinkie's eyes wandered as if she was scanning for costumers. As nopony besides Twilight came towards them, her eyes then focused on her. "It's just that I have so much work to do, don't know how I'm managing all this."
"You should tell Applejack. I'm sure she appreciates that you're helping her out, but she wouldn't want you to overwork yourself." Twilight did a quick scan of her own, failing to find whom she was looking for. "Where is she, anyway?"
Pinkie gave her a funny look, as if she was trying to discern whether or not Twilight's question was honest. "She's at the boutique like always, silly. How should she help me, anyway?" She put a hoof to her chin. "Maybe with selling stuff, or or or with making the apples extra pretty. Anyway, it's alright. I can handle it, I gotta. It's my destiny, after all."
"Huh?" Twilight risked an innocent look at her friend's flank. Indeed, the expected balloons were absent, and it carried three tiny apples in their stead. "That's a new one. Not good. Uh, anyway. Yeah, silly me. See you later, I have to go and do... stuff. Bye!" She backed away as fast as she could without rising suspicion. Once the crowd obstructed her from sight and sound, she said to herself, "Alright, I can fix this. Need to get back to the library and figure out what happened."
"Why do you ask what?" A vaguely familiar mare asked, turning her head away from the nearby market stand to face Twilight.
"When the delicious question is where," the stallion that had accompanied her before already added. "You should broaden your perspective."
To say that those ponies confused Twilight would be like stating that she liked books. "What do you mean?"
"She does not understand," he drily stated despite her being only a few feet away.
"Chin up, they never do." After the brief distraction, she readressed Twilight, "Perhaps you'll want to seek out your friend if you're looking for answers."
"Applejack? So I suppose go to Rarity's..." She scanned around for the boutique to ensure she wasn't mixing up her bearings. "But what is going on?" Looking back, the two had vanished into thin air. "Of course. Why did I know this would happen?" With nothing else to do at the market, she set off towards the acres, then turned around and went on the correct path instead a few streets later.
She'd saved Ponyville more often than she could count herself, but this particular crisis felt different. For once, she didn't have the sweetest clue of how to solve it, but it also didn't seem to disturb anypony else. That gave her more reason for worry than relaxation, however. If she failed to restore order, there would be nopony to fill in for her.
She shuddered from the thought just as she arrived at Carousel Boutique. Instead of bursting right in, she figured it'd be better to first scout out the situation through the windows. The first peek revealed little more than a few questionable dress designs put up on mannequines. Thus, she circled around to the back, where she spotted Applejack trying her best at sowing, which didn't mean much. As Twilight had feared, her flank bore the wrong mark.
"She appears to be lacking practice," said the same-as-before gray stallion, who Twilight only now realised was standing beside her, peering into the window.
"A pity. Her works would be adorable otherwise," the mare added, taking up the room's other window.
"You again. Why are you following me? Did the princess send you? If you can help me solve this mess, out with it."
"We were already here. Why are you following us? Besides, mess? Why, give her a few months and she'll be a wonderful dressmaker." Considering his smooth voice, Twilight had to put in effort to not be charmed by it.
"She's a farmer!" They were playing her like a doll and she did not like that. But they clearly knew more than they let on just yet, so she had to be patient and see what would result.
"It is all a matter of perspective, darling," he said. "I see... a farmer."
"And I see a fashionista." She beckoned Twilight over to her window.
She took a look inside, unsure what she expected to change. Regardless of her own expectations, what did change was quite a lot. Applejack's mane had suddenly changed into the style of a ponytail, the cloth was just racing through her sewing machine, and finished designs surrounded her by the tens. Twilight ran back to the other side, which gave her the old, helpless Applejack. "What is– how are there two Applejacks? Why is one so good?" she mumbled.
"Do not concern yourself with the how. There is no reason to explain. You only need to know that they are the same pony, albeit that they hail to different planes of reality. Across the universes, there are constants and variables. Constants like the destiny to become a dressmaker." He spoke with the knowing tone of a teacher explaining the concept of two plus two. She wasn't sure whether to feel calmed or agitated by it.
"Variables like who stands up and grasps that destiny. They are two sides of the same coin," the white mare continued, flipping a bit. When she caught it, it landed on the edge. "This side of her doesn't have any difficulty because she never was a farmer in the first place. "
"In another world, she found her talent in dressmaking. That world, to be exact, the same in which another pony took over what she does here."
Twilight was starting to lose her patience. Perhaps their information would be sucked up by philosophers around Equestria, but it wasn't getting her any further. "Why are you telling me this?" she snapped, surprised at her own aggressiveness. "If there are parallel universes, so what, what does this help me?"
"It helps," he said, "because here lies the problem. During your, ah, experiment, you stole something from that Applejack," he pointed at hoof at the distant window, then gestured a line over to his, "and gave it to this one. Nothing to mourn having lost, but a mote of the energy which makes her."
"When it arrived, the energy overtook her destiny, changed her cutie mark, and brought with itself memories of Applejack, the fashionista. Her body refuses to change, and so she also carries memories of life as a farmer." She gazed inside and sighed lightly. "When she woke up this morning, she perceived being both."
"A state that she found disagreeable. In order to even function, she had to choose what story of herself she'd believe, whether her life had been that of a designer or that of a farmer. And, since all evidence pointed towards it, she could only avoid a paradox by choosing the former." He left Twilight's side, standing at that of his companion instead.
"Despite all fate, however, she lacks the practice and skill necessary for efficiency. Her body is not what her mind thinks it to be. Most importantly, her physical memories, however repressed, still show the version of her to which you're used."
"So all I need to do is remind her of who she is and this will be over?" Twilight asked. Perhaps her problems could have an easy solution for once.
"It certainly would be worth an attempt," she said. "The bonds of your friendship will surely overcome even this obstacle."
"Tell me again, slowly, what exactly are we doin' out here, Twilight?" Applejack seemed to be quite distrusting of Twilight's motives. Seeing as she'd more or less dragged her out of Ponyville, there might even be a reason to it.
"Pinkie could use a bit of help with the apple trees, and I figured you're the pony for the job." She urged to keep going until they passed a few trees with apple-capturing buckets already laid out under them. Pinkie was nowhere in sight, though. She had to be even more overworked than she'd imagined. "Ah, perfect. There, just try your luck with these, if you would."
Applejack was more than confused, that much was visible no matter how hard she tried to conceal it. However, she kept any questions which she had to be burning to ask to herself and just did as was asked from her. The trees offered little in resistance against her expert kicks, each barren of fruit after only a single buck.
After the fifth, Twilight stopped the experiment. "There. How are you feeling?"
Applejack returned to the path, her obvious confusion still as strong as before, if not even stronger. "Feels funny ta buck 'em apples, but besides, nothin' past normal."
"But... this doesn't make sense." Twilight began pacing in circles, rubbing a hoof to her head to help herself comprehend. "You should be fine now, not like this. Why isn't it working?" She caught Applejack's eye. "Ah, anyway. You can go home now if you want. I'm sure we'll be fine, somehow."
She let Applejack get a little headstart, then set off towards Ponyville herself. There was nothing for her to do here. She had to regroup back at the library and find out everything she could about the current situation and what she may be doing wrong. Once there was a sufficient distance between her and Applejack, she let out a small groan. She had a long night of poring over ancient tomes ahead of her. As much as she loved reading of every sort and kind, there were definitely other activites which she'd much prefer.
Despite searching until deep in the night, her search had been fruitless. Her library housed knowledge stretching far beyond known history, but somehow none of it seemed to even theoretically touch on anything like what she'd seen. Thus, by the clock's third strike, she'd decided to give the search a rest and get some herself. Needless to say, her sleep had been anything but peaceful. In the brief period that she allowed herself to lie, her unconscious body saw more twists and turns than in an entire month otherwise.
She awoke to the song of birds outside her window, mind wiped clean by the solace of rest. For a few precious moments, she could not recall anything being out of the ordinary, thought to begin a day like any other. However, every paradise had to find its end somewhere. As she connected the fragments of clear thought dancing in front of her eyes, memories of the previous day came crashing down on her.
As if her peace hadn't been to pieces already, she heard a familiar male voice around five feet away from her. "Do you suppose it'll work?"
"We already know it works," a mare's voice retorted, its source apparently just as close. "The question is, will she understand it? I do hope so, I'm beginning to tire of this."
Twilight bolted upright in her bed. There were indeed ponies in her bedroom, the same pair who had kept appearing wherever she went the day before. "Hey, what are you two doing in my house?" she questioned, trying to push her privacy without scaring the two off. She knew she had great interest in keeping them with her.
"Perhaps you should take the habit of locking your door if you do not wish for visitors," he answered. "But let us skip the pointless business such as threatening each other with the local authorities. I imagine you would be more interested in seeing this." They parted, walking backwards to allow full sight on the window behind them towards which they pointed with presentative gestures.
Twilight rose and scuffled over to the window. "What? It's just Ponyville. There's noth– oh what in the name..." Seconds earlier, the outlook had been the same as always, the quiet little village bathing in the sun coming in from above. Within a single blink however, it had changed. Black clouds suffocated the sky, obstructing Ponyville from the light it so needed for guidance. The usual air of serenity was lost, replaced only by a visible nervosity. Plants withered, windows were smashed, and entire buildings had fallen into disrepair. Ponyville was burning. "This isn't real, it can't be."
"Calm, it is not within your world. Not yet." He closed the curtains. Sunlight seeped in through a crack between them. "When all other guidance perished, the denizes of Equestria sought guidance from a foolish princess. She united an empire she was unable to lead. Pressure rose, until they decided to take it on themselves. It has happened and will happen, in worlds where you consider yourself to have failed."
"As in others where you saw success. The question is often but a matter of perspective."
"But how?" Twilight asked. "I tried what you said, it didn't work, I can't find any other advice!"
"The notes were correct." He motioned for Twilight to follow and set off downstairs.
"The instrument was not," the white mare said, walking a step behind her.
"One needs both to reawaken a pony's spark," he finished once they arrived at the library's bottom floor.
"If only you had some sort of magical artifact specific to one of your friends with which to wrangle powerful magicka." She took her position at his side. Perhaps they were twins. Twilight shook her head free. She didn't have time for such thoughts.
"The Elements, of course. But how–" When Twilight's eyes returned from the showcase holding the elements, the pair had vanished. "Of course. What else would they do." The glass opened and the Elements of Harmony floated towards her. "Well, guess trying can't hurt anypony."
She didn't have to walk long nor far to find the first of her friends when, on the market square, she found Rarity trying to bring order into the clouds above. "What do you think you're doing?" she asked her.
"Oh, you know, weather duty. The same thing that I've done since I got my cutie mark," Rarity replied, putting her flank into plain sight.
"So it really stands for weather. Huh, guess that explains why she never got into the Wonderbolts. Anyhow." She fastened the necklace around Rarity's throat. "Wrong answer. Be so kind and come with me to the Boutique, this has run long enough." She could walk her across town, but decided on using a teleportation spell to save time. Not only that, if she could press matters fast enough, she wouldn't have to explain her intentions until afterwards. On the off chance that it'd work, she would even get away without all the awkward stuff such as giving an excuse for teleporting her friend across Ponyville without asking or having a clear reason. "There, here we are," she said once the spell released them inside Carousel Boutique. "Rarity, I understand you might be asking yourself a lot of things right now, but doesn't this environment inspire you to something?"
"It... actually does. Albeit that those designs aren't helping it. Cocoa with lemon? Do you want your clients to look like overdue bananas?" Applejack gave an embarassed smile and was tackled away from the sewing machine before she could cause any more harm. "Now let's make some real dresses. Be a dear and bring those things out back, would you? We can at least use them for heating."
For half an hour, two ponies sat mesmerised as another's hooves and magic raced across bolts of cloth, assembling a masterpiece without likes in Equestria. That wasn't the only thing keeping them in awe, though. As Rarity worked, a gentle blue glow collected around her, almost invisible at first, but obvious to anypony but her in the end. When she pulled out her work to present it, her pride was unfortunately interrupted by a lightning bolt of magical energy, though it seemed to have originated from her and ran skyward, rather than the other way around.
The resulting flash and bang threw everypony on the ground, robbing them of their orientations through pure surprise. Applejack was first to recover and asked, "What in tha hay jus' happened?"
"Don't ask me," Twilight responded, groaning while she climbed onto her hooves. "But, awesome, it worked! I can't believe it actually worked!"
Indeed, Rarity's side was adorned not by multicoloured lightning, but with those three diamonds which she could call her own. "Yes, I remember," she mumbled once her dizziness faded. "This is what I do, who I am. My destiny."
"No... how can you," Applejack mumbled. In their moment of ecstasy, they'd both forgotten about her.
Twilight could not hope to imagine the paradox Applejack had to try and handle in that moment. "Alright, this might feel confusing, but I promise to you it'll be fine." She gave her the Element of Honesty. She slipped it on, blindly following orders in the face of not knowing what else to do.
With the procedure figured out, curing the rest of her friends had been as easily said as done. There'd been a lot of strange questions and they'd had to force Rainbow Dash into the air to reclaim her cutie mark, but in the end, everypony could be as they belonged. Sadly, nopony seemed to notice the change, so Twilight couldn't get the parade for which she had been hoping. Not that it mattered of course, she was happy enough with their own parade of six ponies. On the way through Ponyville, she couldn't suppress humming a small tune into which the others joined as they carried her back to the library.
"Thanks girls, you're the best," she said when they set her down. "I'm so glad to know that, whatever happens, friendship'll be our– wait, that's the solution!" She dashed to the round table, leaving behind five perplexed ponies. Once there, she flung open her newest book and levitated forth a quill and ink to commit the sacrilege of taking notes within a book. "From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny, singled out alone fulfilled. Infinity to one, one to infinity. Bound to our selves, let friendship be our shield. That should cut it."
The others wanted to question her, to ask what that book was, what she'd just done, what it all meant. However, they didn't get the chance to do so as right after her last sentence, the Elements they still wore resonated with energy and, before anyone could react, each fired a beam of pure magic at Twilight. Once the dust cleared, there was no lavender unicorn to be seen, only scorch marks on the floor remaining at her former position.
A flash, more potent than light, more penetrating than sound, filled Twilight's consciousness. She flailed her limbs to shake it off, at least she imagined she did. Eventually, she recognised it wasn't much use without having any of her senses. The best she could do was wait until it ended. When it did, she was back on her hooves before risking a look around and almost falling over again. She was no longer in the library, in fact, there wasn't even a world around her as much as a star-filled sky surrounding her on all sides, the only landmark being a giant purple sun floating off in the direction she'd originally faced.
"Ah, I see you've finally come," said the void in a gentle voice. Moments later, Princess Celestia walked in from the void. "I know you must have many questions, but be assured that now is neither the place nor the time to answer them. What is important is what you've done." She laid a guiding hoof on Twilight and lead her from nowhere to nowhere else. As they walked, inexplicable memories flashed up in Twilight's mind. "You have written your own magic today. Once we are through, there well be no borders of any kind left for you to break."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, losing confidence by the second. "Where are we?"
The princess gave a true politician's chuckle. "Let's say it is a place where you'd belong, albeit that there are no books here. But that is beside the point. It is time that you join my side as we lead a united Equestria. It is time for you to embrace your destiny." She took a step's distance and her horn glimmered with energy, just too subtle to notice.
"Wait, I remember this. He said this is the Magic Flow," Twilight whispered, in turn going unnoticed by Princess Celestia. "A nexus of all magic, of all realities that ever were. Yes, I, I can see them. How blind have I been before? But each of them ends in conflict, because of a constant... no, it's a variable." Bundles of energy packed her by the sides and lifted her above the randomly set ground. She knew she couldn't allow it and fought, firing physical and magical power alike. "Get these away from me!" Against all expectations, when she was about to reach the end of her might, they actually left off and dropped her back down. "Why are you acting so surprised?" she snapped, picking herself off the ground. "Is it because your plans were foiled or because they were uncovered in the first place?" She advanced towards the princess. "You would use me as a weapon, to enslave those who do not threaten us! To create an empire beyond recognition! I can't support that plan. I won't."
Celestia tried to back away from her. For the first time in known history, her face showed fear of a greater enemy, rather than clear authority. "I offer you the chance to rule alongside me, to maybe some day even succeed me, yet you refuse. Then you will die knowing that you failed to save everything you fought for, alongside your meddling friends. Join me and see the empire prosper!"
Of course, she'd try to talk Twilight out of it. It wouldn't work, she'd seen far too much of the truth. "These ponies, my friends, are what made me who I am today. They made me stronger than you could understand. Strong enough to see the future chaos that you could not. I fight for freedom, mine and everyone's. I fight for the right to choose our own fate. And if I die, I'll die knowing that I did everything I could to stop you. And I'll die free. I'm sorry, but you are no longer my mentor." Despite Twilight's acting, a single hot tear impacted on the nothingness before her hooves. "Nor my princess." Another drop of water. "Nor my friend."
Celestia regarded her as if judging her speech. When Twilight's expression refused to budge, she seemed to come to a conclusion. "So be it." She turned and walked away, soon disappearing though her voice kept resounding. "Return then, finish your life as a worthless unicorn."
Twilight was alone, but happier than ever. Wherever she looked, she saw not worlds in conflict, but in glorious prosperity. The constant had been varied. Soon, darkness enveloped her. She was going home, to her friends, she knew it.