Freedom Through Harmony: Book II

by Electricut

Twenty-one

Sorry I haven't posted a chapter for a little while.

I kinda went out on a limb with this part of the story. I hope it goes well.

Twenty-one

“An alternate timeline?” Luna asked. “We- er, I- remember something about those from an old friend…”

“In theory, every decision we ever make splits the timeline, another offshoot reality being formed for every choice you didn’t settle on.” Scratch explained. “I’m not sure about that, myself, but there are certainly a few alternate timelines out there. They are all destined to be destroyed, in the end. Only the alpha timeline survives, which is the one we are in.”

“So what is this gate for?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Someone from one of those timelines trying to get out?”

“That’s very possible.” Scratch confirmed. “It’s also possible that another person with powers over time, working against us, opened this up to bring in forces to stop us.”

“So what did you mean when you said this is what wasn’t sittin’ right with you?”

“Right, that…” he began, hesitating. “Well, this is going to sound incredibly awkward, Scootaloo, probably the most awkward thing you’ve ever heard, but… I think you’re the wrong gender.”

It took me several moments to respond. Even then it was simply “…What?”

“Yeah. I know, it sounds absolutely insane. I wouldn’t believe it if the evidence wasn’t staring us in the face. You may not be the only one, either.”

“… What? How does that even work?!” I asked.

“I only have a rough idea, myself.” Scratch admitted. “But if we enter this portal, I can show you.”

“Is that a good idea?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I mean, will we be safe in a timeline that’s bound for destruction?”

“We will be safe. With me at the controls of our trip, we will only be observers, able to look at any point in the timeline we choose.”

“You mean, any point you choose.” I corrected. Scratch gave me a look from behind his shades for a few moments, then shrugged.

“Essentially. But only because we want to see what we need to see, then get out. We don’t want to be away from our own timeline for too long. Can’t give the Order enough time to get the upper hand.”

He retrieved the discs again and held them at his sides. Everyone moved to stand behind him, but I pulled Applebloom aside for a moment before joining him. “Do you think it’s a good idea to follow this guy? We’ve got a common enemy, but I’m not sure he knows what he’s doing…”

“I know what’cha mean…” she answered, “But I think he’s our best bet right now. We need his help to push back against the Order.”

I nodded uneasily, and we stood behind him. With a flick of his wrist against the Time Tables, we were pulled through the portal. Our vision blurred for a few moments. When it returned, we were presented to an overhead view of Equestria at night. It looked nearly identical to our own. As we floated, I was hit with a wave of longing and homesickness. I wasn’t sure how long we would be gone yet, but already I couldn’t get back home fast enough.

“We need to zoom in to see the major difference with this reality.” Scratch told us, and made some adjustments on his devices. We descended to the ground, and I quickly saw that we were near Ponyville. A few people were on the streets, but we seemed to be invisible to them, observers only.

“There’s somethin’… different about ‘em.” Applebloom mused.

“You’ll be able to see it once we get to someone you know.” Scratch assured, then took us quickly across town to the Sweet Apple Acres. The torches near the farmhouse were still lit, but as we watched, someone stepped outside to douse them.

“Is that Applejack?” Applebloom asked, and I could feel the same longing in her voice that I felt. “But… she’s…”

“A guy, yes.” Scratch confirmed. “That’s this reality’s defining feature, all the genders are reversed from what we know. Well, most of them, that’s what we’re here to investigate. The ones that aren’t.”

“Wait, wait.” I interrupted. “How does this work? How does any of this make any sense? And what does this have to do with us?”

“Any reality you can imagine that’s different from ours, the alpha one- even ones that are only slightly different- are happening somewhere in paradox space. Usually even I can’t access them, but there must be someone else out here fiddling with time travel. Someone with more unstable power. And your last question is also what we’re here to investigate. I don’t know why this other time traveler opened this reality in particular. To prove a point, maybe. We’ll find out.”

He spun one of the discs forward, and our vision blurred again. When we stopped, we were in the middle of a very familiar scene. “The first real battle of the rebellion…” I breathed.

Ponyville had been overhauled for defense, just the same as it was in our reality. The people were fighting tooth and nail against the better-armed royal army. The difference was, this time, Ponyville was losing.

“This wasn’t a war that ended with the free people on top in most realities.” Scratch admitted. “We were very lucky that it did end well in the alpha timeline.”

Below us, behind the defensive lines, I saw another flash. When it faded, another Scratch stood there, but I could see that this one looked younger, yet more battle-worn than the one beside me did.

“That’d be me from this reality…” Scratch said, after I pointed him out. “What am I doing here…?”

“And why are you still a boy in this reality?” I asked skeptically. “Everyone else here is changed, but you pretty much look the same.” Scratch didn’t answer, but was rubbing his chin in deep thought. The battle below struggled forward, but it was clear that the rebel forces could not win, even with the Scratch of this reality putting his strength behind them. When the last of them were cornered in the center, the outer walls breached, I saw the alternate Scratch reveal his own Time Tables, and swiftly input a destination. With a bright flash, he and the remaining survivors were taken away from the battle.

Our Scratch quickly set a new destination, and we followed the survivors to their new location. There weren’t many of them, but I noticed one thing right away- they were almost all the same gender as their counterparts in the alpha timeline. Scratch, Rainbow Dash, and my own counterpart were among them. All male. To my surprise, I saw Daring Do among them as well, the man who we had met along with Drew in Monetopia. Pinkie was there as well, a boy, but seemed to be fatally wounded.

Before the survivors sat a portal, identical to the one we were using. Before the portal stood a black-cloaked figure, clearly a member of the Order. Words were exchanged between the figure and the alternate Scratch. The Order member stepped aside, and one by one, the survivors stepped through the portal. As I watched, and as each survivor stepped through, glowing bodies began to drift through from the other side. I took a closer look at one of them, and saw that it was Rainbow Dash, but this time, as a girl.

“Someone explain what’s going on here.” Sweetie Belle demanded. “I can’t be the only one totally lost here.”

“This is only an educated guess…” Scratch started, “but it seems like this portal leads back to our reality, and the survivors of this battle are entering. They had already done this in our reality. And judging by these bodies… They replaced their counterparts in our reality. This caused our reality to change slightly, and for Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash… myself, it seems… and several others, to be born as the gender they were in this reality, rather than what they were supposed to be in the alpha timeline.” He shook his head. “That’s completely insane, but there it is. There’s still the question of why… Why did they do that, and why did this Order member give them the opportunity to?”

“And the question of why Pinkie didn’t change.” Sweetie Belle added. “Her male counterpart went through to our timeline, but she’s still a girl.”

Scratch nodded, appearing to be just as confused as the rest of us. I looked up, and saw the Order member look directly at us, beckon us to follow, and drift through the portal. Scratch watched the figure go, then turned slightly to face us. “That person probably has the answers we want. Don’t draw your weapons yet, but be ready to.”

I nodded, and made sure my spear was ready to be drawn at a moment’s notice. I glanced down at the bodies of the ones we had replaced in the alpha timeline. I saw my own counterpart there, violet hair brushing against the ground, a good deal longer than mine. She seemed to be still alive; they all did, alive but not alive, never having been alive at all.

“Isn’t there anything we can do for them?” I asked.

“I’m afraid not.” Scratch answered. “They were removed from existence in our reality. Which doesn’t make a damn bit of sense. Time travel doesn’t work like that, you can’t just go back and change something, or it would always have been that way, and… And yet I have memories of another alternate timeline, where at least some of these were still there… It doesn’t make sense at all!”

“Hey, Scratch, focus!” I said sharply, snapping him out of his anger and panic, at least for the moment. “This makes about as much sense to me as your version of time travel, but I understand one thing. We kicked these people out of their own reality. Took their spots and made it so they were never born, and shunted them off to this awful place. It’s not fair. Don’t we at least owe them something?”

“It isn’t fair,” Scratch agreed, “but there’s nothing we can do. They are doomed timeline versions now. If we brought them back, they would be destined to die. It’s just a grim reality. What we can do is go back to our reality and confront that Order agent. That person is the one who opened the way for this to happen.”

I nodded, but my eyes lingered on the inert form of my female counterpart. If what Scratch had guessed was true, then it was her that was supposed to live the life I lived. It didn’t feel right leaving her here, in a place where she would probably die. I knew it wasn’t much better to bring her with us for her to die anyway, but I couldn’t just let her be removed from her rightful timeline.

I stepped closer to her. I didn’t need to ask Scratch why she was glowing- I could guess his answer. Some kind of time-travel energy that was adjusting her to her new world, after being erased from her own. His answers hadn’t started making any more sense than they ever did, but they were beginning to become more predictable. And as ridiculous as all the things he said were, it was hard to argue when I could see for myself that he was telling the truth.

She still seemed so lifelike, even if her life was at an end, a life she had been robbed of. I slowly reached my hand forward towards hers, floating at her side. In the moment my fingers brushed against her, the glow around her became much brighter, attracting the attention of the others.

“What did you do?!” Scratch yelled. The light grew in intensity until I had to squint. I could tell that it was no longer centered on the female counterpart in front of me- in fact, I didn’t see her anymore at all- and was now focused around me. I felt a dull buzz in my head, and my body may have locked up for a moment. The light faded, and I felt normal again, yet still somehow different. The female Scootaloo was gone.

Scratch walked up to me and unceremoniously slapped me on the back of my head. “First rule for observing-only time travelers.” he said, “Don’t touch anything. Especially if it’s pumped with weird temporal energy. You could have just erased yourself from existence with that stunt.”

“I didn’t though.” I responded. “Whatever that did, I’m still standing.”

“That’s not the point!” Scratch retorted. “The point is, we don’t know WHAT it did, or what it could have done. As long as we’re hopping through time, and on the offensive against the Order, you guys are my responsibility. Agree with me or not, I’m the closest thing to a leader we have, and I’m not going to have you blowing yourself up because you got curious about something.”

He walked back over to the portal, and I stood just behind with the others. I wasn’t sure I liked that Scratch was assuming the leadership position. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure I could do any better a job, but I still didn’t know if he was completely trustworthy. He put his hands to the Time Tables again, and we were carried back through the portal, and to the icy landscape of the island in Ivoire. The portal disappeared behind us. We weren’t getting back into the alternate dimension.

Before us stood the agent of the Order, arms folded, awaiting our arrival. As Scratch had told us, we kept our weapons sheathed. He stepped forward to confront the dark-cloaked figure. “What was that?” He demanded.

The Order agent raised her arms, and spoke confidently as they all did: “You probably guessed already. Alternate timeline with reverse genders. I offered a few people safety in this timeline, at the price of removing the original copies.” She turned, and I knew she was looking and Scratch and I. “Sickening, isn’t it? That they would so willingly give the lives of others to save their own?”

“So it was to prove a point about our greed?!” Scratch demanded.

“That,” she continued, dropping her hood. Her hair was two shades of blue, and her eyes sparkled with an unsettling light. “And to demonstrate my power. I want you to know exactly what you’re up against, kids, exactly what you’ve decided to make your personal enemy.

“You see, Scratch, I know that you’ll recall memory of a history that didn’t quite line up with this one. A history in which your friend there was recorded as a girl, not a boy, as he is now.”

“Time travel doesn’t work like that.” Scratch asserted. By the tone of his voice, I knew that he didn’t want to be wrong. “You can’t change the past. Only involve yourself in it, and contribute to the reality that already existed.”

“That’s how yours works.” The Order girl agreed. “Yours is limited to only take you from place to place and time to time, but doesn’t have the power to alter the alpha timeline. Mine is a bit… different. Let’s describe it as… the script for a play. The alpha timeline as we know it is the original script, and I am the playwright. By travelling back in time and changing something, I have rewritten part of the script. The actors who were part of the area I rewrote will remember what the timeline used to look like… but it won’t anymore. Nothing but a memory…” She finished with such a cheerful tune.

“That’s insanity!” Scratch exclaimed. “That’s not how time works! That doesn’t make any sense!”

She laughed. “Have you met our boss? First thing he’d say is ‘What fun is there in making sense?’ And you’re thinking too small. My mode of time travel is better than yours. Stronger. Your precious Doctor wouldn’t risk messing up the timeline, so he was perfectly happy with the limitations those silly Time Tables presented him. But I don’t have those worries, which gives me a lot more control than you’ll ever have.”

Before Scratch had a chance to lash out at her, I stepped forward. “You’ve still got something to explain. What happened to the Pinkie of that timeline? Our Pinkie stayed the same.”

“Did she?” the Order member asked coyly. “The one that left the other timeline was too weak to completely take over the spot. Tried, but couldn’t take the body. The Pinkie Pie of your timeline could have just killed his spirit completely and be done with it, but she was too nice. She took the broken spirit in with her own, and the spirit soon changed to a shadow of hers, still alive, but with little independence. You came to call it ‘Chaos’ did you not?”

She walked up to me. “Much like what you just did. You kicked the rightful version out of this reality, but then decided to give her the second chair. How generous of you.”

She stepped back, leaving me slightly confused and in awe. There’s another… another version of me- my spirit, I mean- in my body now? Two of them, just like Pinkie? But, the one that she picked up was too weak to take over, so it was adopted as a lesser part of her. What’s going to happen to me, since both parts are equal…?

“Enough!” Scratch interjected. “What are you people doing? Why are you just attacking cities out of nowhere? And what do you want with us?!”

“Honestly?” she asked, exasperated. “You expect any of those questions to get answered? Nah, I think I’ll let you guys bumble around in the dark a while longer. You’ll probably figure it all out sooner or later, through your dreams, through the people you meet. Trust me, nothing you’ve done so far has surprised anyone. You’re playing your parts perfectly. Still… maybe it’s time for a little game?”

She chuckled and leaped back, opening a portal of darkness, but did not step through yet. “I’m going to head back in time a ways, maybe… fifteen or sixteen years? Something like that. I’m going to pull some of our other players into this game.”

Scratch exhaled sharply, his battle discs suddenly in hand. She had struck a chord. She laughed again. “That’s right. The ones you tried to keep away from this. But you’ve stepped too far, Scratch. All of you have. If you wanted to keep her safe, the best thing you could have done would be to stay at home.”

“No! You sick…!” Scratch didn’t finish, and instead lunged forward, weapons blazing. She leaped back, into the portal she had created, and was gone. Scratch swung his weapons, but they just caused a puff of black smoke.

Comments

[flamehaze7461]

CONFUSING TIME TRAVEL THINGAMAJIGS!!!!!

Admittedly, it's not all that confusing, though it probably could have been worded better. All in all, liking the story a lot so far. Keep up the good work!

[Electricut]

2896909

Yeah, I kinda went out on a limb with this part of the story. I hope it's received well.
Good to hear you like it!