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// L???: Prologue 
// Story: A Little Loopy: Divergence Theory 
// by MongoMango 
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“Twilight, have you ever wondered what happens when I leave a loop?”  Sweetie looked up from her book as Twilight scanned the notes that she had written in previous loops.  The basement of Twilight’s castle was filled with various machines and devices that whirred, buzzed, and beeped every so often.  Twilight was standing at a small table to the side, notes stacked high in an organized manner while Sweetie slumped into a pink beanbag chair that sat beside the table.

Putting the one she was reading down, Twilight turned to Sweetie and raised an eyebrow.  “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I saw a movie where the protagonist goes back in time in order to fix the present which was ruined by a bad guy from the future who went to the past with their time machine when they traveled from the present to the future so that…”  Sweetie’s eyes became crossed as she spoke.  Shaking her head, she continued.  “Anyway, the scientist pony in the movie was explaining how there could be two different versions of the present.  I was kinda confused as to how that worked.”

“Ah, you’re talking about alternate timelines.”  Twilight nodded as she returned to her notes, eyes running across the papers as she spoke.  “Well, in case you haven’t noticed, the exact physics of time travel are extremely difficult to determine.  After all, how can you change something in the past if it somehow affects your ability to go there in the first place?  That’s why you have all these different paradoxes that might occur when you time travel.”

Sweetie scratched her head in confusion.  “So how is time travel even possible then?”

“Well, one theory that was developed in order to remove the problem with paradoxes states that whenever the past is changed, the timeline splits into separate timelines.  These timelines are essentially alternate universes that are the result of a time traveler’s actions.  So when a time traveler goes to the past and then returns to the present, she is really just going to a different universe.  This allows for situations where, say, the time traveler prevents herself from ever being born.  Instead of causing a paradox, she creates a universe where she never existed and that’s the universe she goes to when she returns to the present.”  Twilight glanced over as dark mood came over Sweetie.

“So, what you’re saying is, whenever I leave a loop, the things I did still exist in that timeline?”  Sweetie’s voice grew distant with every word as she stared into nothing.

Twilight quickly dropped her papers to embraced the young filly.  “Like I said Sweetie, it’s just a theory.  I’m sure whatever you do in each loop is returned to normal when you reset.  So don’t worry about it.”

Sweetie looked up at the alicorn and smiled, hugging her back.  “You really think so?”

Twilight looked down at Sweetie and gave a comforting smile in return.  “I do.” Twilight lied.