//------------------------------// // An Abundance of Crosses and Arrows // Story: Crisis of Infinite Twilights // by defender2222 //------------------------------// "You know, I think you are taking all of this a bit too..." Scootaloo waved her hoof in the air, searching for the right word, "...easily." "You would prefer I was freaking out?" Luna asked, a dopey grin on her face. It was rare for her to be out and about during the day, touring Canterlot, and she found the experience quite interesting (she was also trying not to focus on the question of why an immortal goddess needs to sleep). She leaned down, where Baby Twilight was floating in front of her, carefully encased in the moon goddess' magic, and pressed her nose to the foal's. "Scootaloo would want me screaming and running around in a panic. Yes she would, yes she would!" "Scoots!" Baby Twilight exclaimed happily, flailing her forelegs about. "I do say Scootaloo, you are acting rather strange," Discord said in annoyance, not liking how she was drawing attention to them by speaking loudly. He was wearing a three-piece suit, a fedora, and was puffing on a bubble pipe. "I would think that you would be happy that Luna and I have accepted that in another dimension we are a family unit. Mom and dad and 2.5 kids." "How do you have half a kid?" Spike asked, only to hold up his hand. "Nevermind, I know where you are going to go with that and I'd prefer not to see it." Discord, very slyly, reached around and wrapped his arm around Luna's neck. "And who knows, maybe in this universe-" "Remove thy hand or we shall break it," Luna said, reverting back to ancient Canterlotian. Discord lifted his arm, not even bothering to go for the expected joke of physically removing his hand and leaving it on Luna’s shoulder. "No need to be rude." "There is every need to be rude. Have you forgotten all that you have done to me? You drove our subjects mad and tried to corrupt the elements of harmony all in the name of your sick sense of humor." "I also invented Rocky Road Ice Cream but no one ever brings that up." "And I have not forgotten how your actions cost me my father for 1,500 years." Discord pouted. "To be fair, you were trapped in the moon for 1000 of those years. Second, Tydal was trying to kill me and has been trying to do so since he was in diapers. And finally, he and I have buried that hatchet!" Discord twisted around, revealing a small axe embedded in his spine. "Literally. Drove the dang thing in there last week and I can't get it out now. Tydal sure can swing. Could one of you please remove this?" "Dada!" Baby Twilight said, happily yanking out the axe with her own shadow magic, Discord letting out a yelp. She grabbed the weapon and began to shake it, nearly cutting off Spike's head. "Yay!" "I'm going to walk near Fluttershy," Spike said nervously. Scootaloo suddenly froze, twisting 168.5 degrees (she was very precise). "Wait..." "Twitchy tail?" Spike asked nervously. "Twitchy what?" "Oh. Sorry, wrong thing." Spike rubbed the back of his head. "So, what's the problem?" "I sense another Twilight!" Scootaloo said. "Is this one huggably soft?" Luna cooed, wrapping her forearms around Baby Twilight and rocking her. "No chaos magic," Discord said. He snapped his fingers and he was suddenly dressed as a pirate, with a peg leg and a hook hand and a cloth fanny (don't ask). "Hmmm..." he said, looking through his spyglass. "Ar, I see that thar Twilight off the Starboard side!" Luna chuckled softly. "Oh, I get it... because of the stars and Twilight's connection to them." Fluttershy shook her head. "Actually, starboard side refers to the right of a boat or ship. The port side would refer to the left of course, but every pony knows that. Now, I will be the first one to admit that stars do play a key role in ship sailing; the first explorers used the stars as a guide to help them navigate. That's why the North Star is so important, because it is a bright star and one sailors could use to point their way home. But back to the topic at hoof, starboard is merely a nickname from the right side of a ship. Sailors have many colorful phrases to describe the world around them and it really shows how rich and diversified their world is and if we-" "ERIS!" Fluttershy blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was rambling, wasn't I?" "ERIS!" a pony bellowed, galloping towards them at a healthy clip. "Are any of you named Eris?" Discord asked. "You know we aren't," Spike said, only to see Discord shift. "You don't even know my name, do you?" “Of… of course I do!” “Say it,” Spike said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Say my name.” "...Twilight Jr?" Discord guessed. "ERIS!" "Uh, that Twilight is getting closer," Fluttershy said softly, moving behind the draconquees. "And angrier." "ERIS!" "Does that voice sound a bit... deep?" Scootaloo asked. "Now that you mention it," Luna stated, "there is a certain timber to that Twilight's-" "Eris!" the Twilight bellowed, leaping at Discord, horning glowing. The chaos god easily caught the flying pony and, after a moment, snapped his fingers and caused GL Twilight and Captain Sparkle to appear. He held up all three ponies and grinned. "One of these Twilights is not like the other..." he sang. "I don't what sort of game this is, Eris, but I will not play it! Now change everypony back!" Discord set the pony down (and sent the confused Captain and GL back to BUTTS) and the others gaped as they realized that this Twilight truly was different than the others... "So a male Twilight," Spike said dryly. "That's neat." "Spines, is that you?" the Twilight said, rushing over to him. "Wow, you really sound strange." "Speak for yourself," Scootaloo said. "Dude, it’s called 'personal space'." Spike shoved the stallion away. "Learn it, love it." "Don't worry, Spines, I'll figure out what Eris did to you and I will fix it!" The stallion whipped around and for the first time the group noticed that not only was the purple pony sporting a rather masculine version of Twilight's Element Tiara (available at any toy store near you, kids and creepy adults, for $12.99. While there, ask about the new My Little Tydal figure!) upon his head. His wings flapped in agitation as he stared down Discord. "What sort of game are you playing now, Eris?" "The name is Discord, first off, and second I am playing Texas Hold'em." Discord waved his hand and a card table appeared in front of them, loaded up with poker chips. "Ha!" Baby Twilight said happily, slapping down a King and Ace of Spades, which gave her a royal flush. "Babababa!" The stallion merely glared at the chaos being (who was grumbling as he paid the baby her winnings). "Ever since Butterscotch convinced you to stop using your magic for evil I've wondered if you'd have a relapse. Now I find myself the only pony not to have swapped genders." Luna frowned. "Wait... I'm a male in your world?" She wrinkled her nose. "But those... thingies... are so yucky! Dangling about under there…" "Are you sure you are related to Cadence?" Scootaloo asked. Fluttershy stepped forward, her mane covering part of her face. "Excuse me, Mr. Twilight-" "Butterscotch," the stallion said, utterly devastated. "Don't you remember me? It’s your friend, Dusk Shine!" "Ok, could somepony please explain to me what is going on?" Scootaloo complained. "I can," a figure said, his cultured voice rolling from his lips and out of the heavy hood he wore. The new stallion was just a bit taller than Princess Luna and the heavy cloak that he wore hid all but the tip of his gray muzzle from the strange assortment of ponies. A second pony, this was hidden in the shadows of the alley from which the first had emerged, remained a few steps behind and Scootaloo got the impression that the hidden pony was watching them very closely. She also got the weirdest tingling sensation when she looked at her (but not in that way, you perverts). "Dusk Shine... that is your name, is it not?" "Yes," Dusk said, taking a step forward, his eyes still glancing at Discord who was trying to look as innocent as possible (which meant he was wearing a halo and strumming a harp). "Who are you?" "Who I am does not matter. I have had many names, none of them ones I chose for myself and the one I have selected would be unfamilar to your ears and mean less than nothing." "This guy's giving me a headache," Scootaloo complained. "Just get on with it!" "Dusk, what is the very last thing you remember?" The stallion rubbed his chin. "I was working on some experiments in my library. I'd asked Prince Solaris for several of the kingdom's most sacred and powerful artifacts as I wanted to study them." "Like the Mirror of Worlds and the water from that pond that made duplicate Pinkies?" Spike asked. "Pinkie?" Dusk asked. "You mean Berry, right? Berry Bubble." "This is getting awfully confusing," Fluttershy said. "I'm making up a scorecard, my dear," Discord said, patting her on the head. "We'll review notes later." The cloaked stallion cleared his throat. "There is something more, isn't there? I can feel your lingering doubt, the questions that tease your brain and the worries that were proven true... something interfered, didn't it?" "Yeah," Dusk said, his eyes widening. "I heard a crash and..." he whipped around and narrowed his eyes, staring Scootaloo down. "Rollalong, how could you be so wreckless?!? I know you want to be like Rainbow Blitz but performing that stunt so close to the library? What if you had caused a chemical reaction to occur?" He sighed, leaning down so he could address the confused filly at eye level. "When we get you back to the right gender, I am going to get Blitz to talk to you about responsibility. Growing up means being responsible and understanding that your actions have consequences." Dusk glared at Discord. "Something Eris here has yet to learn, what with this little trick!" "Hey!" Fluttershy said firmly, even if she didn't raise her voice. "I don't know who this Eris is but he-" "She," Dusk said. "Eris is a she, despite what she did to herself to make her look like this." Fluttershy shook her head. "But this is not Eris. This is Discord and he... he's my friend and you can't bully him." She worried her lip and for a moment everyone thought she would begin crying. "You’re my friend too, Twilight, and I don't want either of you fighting." "My name isn't Twilight! It’s Dusk! Eris did something to all of you to switch your genders and make you believe-" "Something switched, Dusk, but it was not a result of the draconquees," the hooded stallion stated firmly. "It is you who has switched... not genders but realities." The stallion held up a hoof when Dusk tried to cut him off. "Isn't it clear to you yet? Discord... and Eris, if your world is anything like this one... no longer has the power to affect the far reaching lands. His magic has been drained and while he is powerful beyond imagine, what you are describing isn't possible. "No Dusk, the solution is the same for you as it is for my companion and I: somehow, the accident that occurred in your world with this Rollalong and, if I am correct in guessing, happened here with Twilight and Scootaloo, created a temporal flux that has drawn alternate Twilights to this dimension and Dusks to yours... while switching you and this world's Twilight Sparkle, the female counterpart to yourself." "Dimensional travel?" Dusk said in annoyance. "That isn't theoretically poss... oh." "What?" Luna asked. "The Mirror of Worlds. It took me to a world where I was something called a 'human' and I had to go to his high school..." Dusk looked at the hooded stranger. "That's what happened here?" “I’ve been to that world,” Discord said with a snort of disgust. “Only thing good about it is the pizza bagels.” "As far as I can gather," the hooded figure stated. "My companion and I have been observing this dimension for the last few days since our arrival and it is the only solution we could find." "So Twilight isn't shattered into a billion pieces?" Scootaloo asked. “That’s what Mr. Light said.” "I cannot say," the stallion stated. "The presence of Dusk here, who is clearly an exact replica of Twilight save that his world is a reversal of all genders, throws that theory into question. I have not even considered the idea that Twilight was shattered... perhaps Dusk and Twilight are merely echoes or parts of the true ponies." Luna stepped forward, her lips pursed. "Who are you, stranger? You feel... familiar." Scootaloo glanced at the stallion’s companion. "She's another Twilight... I can sense it." "She is," the stallion admitted. "And I am connected to her with bonds that cannot be shattered even by rifts in space and time. The magic that brought her here brought me as well. Upon our arrival we believed this to be, at first, the work of my great enemy, but now I see it is not. We have remained hidden, and will continue to do so, as our presence and powers could-" "Ba!" Baby Twilight exclaimed, clearly annoyed with all the talking (mostly because it meant ponies weren’t looking at her and, like all babies, she wanted to be the center of attention). She leapt from Luna's back (where she had laid down to take a snooze) and grabbed the stallion's hood with her teeth, ripping it off and revealing his gray coat and black mane, a single forelock of brilliant white hair falling into his eyes. What was most startling, however, wasn't even the fact that he was clearly an alicorn; it was his wings, which were made of polished white metal and looked to have been handcrafted by the finest smiths in the world. "Uh... pay no attention to the pony standing here..." the stallion said quickly, trying to make his voice sound eerie. "He is an illusion... oooo!" "Huh?" Baby Twilight poked the stallion and, confirming he was real, happily began to trot around his legs. "Just give it up," the second figure said, throwing off her cloak. "The game is up." "Twilight!" the stallion said, practically scandalized as the newest Twilight stretched her own metallic wings. "They-" "An abstract," Discord said, rubbing his chin. "I thought your kind had been wiped out." "You wish, beast," the stallion said with a scowl. "An abstract can never be killed, for we..." "Just ignore him," the new Twilight said, walking over to the group and rolling her eyes, tuning out her companion as he began to ramp up for another speech. "Faith loves to monologue. A lot." "Faith?" Spike said as the gray alicorn continued to prattle on. "Yeah Spike, abstracts use to be pretty literal when it came to their names. I finally convinced him that it is ok for abstracts NOT to be named after what they represent." The baby dragon chuckled. "Nah, I just can't believe he has a girl's name." Spike blinked, then looked at Twilight in surprise. "You are the first Twilight to actually recognize me and not be surprised by me." "I wasn't that surprised," Dusk complained. "You thought I should be a girl," Spike complained. “I like my dangly parts where they are: retracted inside of me.” “But they are still so yucky!” Luna complained. “I keep asking Celestia why two mares can’t just be together but she says I’m not old enough to understand.” “That explains so much and yet so little,” Discord stated. "What's an abstract?" Scootaloo asked, watching as Faith continued to ramble on, not noticing that no pony was paying attention to him. "In the past they were ponies that, due to their strong connection to a feeling or emotion, became a non-physical entity that represented their key emotion. Faith, for example, is the abstract of faith; he inspires it in others and can take it away." "And yet..." Discord said, poking Faith in the side with a stick, "physical." "There was an incident in our reality... the other members of the elements of harmony abandoned him and Faith began to wander around Equestria-" "Other elements?" Dusk said. "But there are only 6! How can this guy be-" The new Twilight smirked. "Yes... since when is 'magic' an emotion or feeling?" Dusk looked up at his crown in shock. "Yup! The 6th Element is Faith." "That... makes a ton of sense," Scootaloo said. "A lot more than 'magic' being connected to harmony," Spike stated. Discord rubbed his chin. "Yes... yes, that has puzzled me. When I corrupted dear little Twilight and her friends-" Fluttershy looked at Discord, locking her gaze with his, "-which I of course feel very bad about... I was rather confused by Twilight's corruption. It makes sense that her losing faith in her friends would be the trick to robbing her of her color and making her gray scale." "And WHAT is wrong with gray?" Faith asked in annoyance, his metal wings flaring out. "Nothing at all, it looks rather smashing on you... coughOCcough." "OC? Where?" Spike said in a panic, hiding behind Luna. "I didn't mean to kill your dog, Lord Tydal, I swear!" "Calm yourselves!" Luna commanded. "This entire day has become strange even by Equestria standards. Let us return to the ASS building-" "BUTTS," Fluttershy pointed out. "Yes, of course. Let us return to BUTTS and sort these matters out before things get more complicated-" "Nightdancer?" a mature, elegant voice called out from above. The now swollen group, thanks to the editions of Faith, Twi (as she had decided to call herself), and Dusk, all looked up in wonder. At first they believed that it was Princess Celestia who was floating down towards them, her ethereal mane billowing behind her as she landed before them. While she did wear Celestia's crown and other royal jewelry and towered over them all as Celestia did, the alicorn mare before them was not the color of pure light but of the night sky just after the sun had set. "Nightdancer... you... you have ascended!" "...let me guess," Spike said dryly, "a Twilight from a world where her and Celestia swapped roles?" "Yup," Scootaloo stated. "Mmmhhhmmm," Discord said, rubbing his chin. "Nailed it," Dusk said. "Babababa!" Baby Twilight said, gumming her hoof.