Day 9
Day 9
The strange magic seemed to ripple within the crystal orb. Extracting the magic from Pinkie Pie’s blood sample had proven exceedingly difficult. When he had tried to pull on it with his own magic, it had reacted very strangely, morphing, shifting and generally misbehaving. The red streaked darkblue magic behaved like nothing he had ever seen before. After several hours, he had finally given up and had simply poured all of the blood into the magical orb. Then he had carefully extracted all the other types of magic, one by one. It had been tedious and difficult work, but it worked.
Starswirl, now armed with both quill and paper, took rapid notes on the state of the magic as he adjusted some of the crystal knobs on the metal structure that kept the orb
hovering in the air. He charged the knob that increased the temperature of the orb, and noted happily how the magical cloud shot out spikes of energy, making it resemble a Porcupine. Fascinating.
There was a brilliant flash behind him, briefly illuminating the walls. He had come to terms with the purple unicorns daily visits, he even enjoyed their discussions. But, at this stage in the research, she would only be a distraction. It irked him that he now would had to talk to her, why couldn't she just leave him alone to do his thing?
“Look behind you,” Twilight said sounding giddy.
“Oh, for goodness sake!” Starswirl said as he turned around, “Can’t you see I'm trying to concentrate over here?”
Twilight was wearing a full dress in pink, yellow and white, on her head rested a golden tiara and on her hooves there were hoof-guards, also in gold.
“Please, don’t tell me this is another costume you want signed.” Starswirl asked.
“What? No, this is real.” Twilight said with a smile, “My coronation just ended and I wanted to let you know.”
Starswirl frowned at her, “Coronation? What did you do? Marry a prince?”
Twilight blinked, “Oh whoops, I’m sorry. I’m not very good at controlling these things yet,” and with those words she unfurled two purple wings.
Starswirl the Bearded gaped at the feathery appendages, his mind in a state of complete shock. Moments past as Starswirl’s mind frantically tried to make sense of the situation “What?” he felt himself say. Then more forcefully, “WHAT?!”
Twilight shifted, clearly embarrassed, “I figured out the spell, you know the one you couldn't solve. And it turned me into an alicorn.”
Starswirl narrowed his eyes at her as he felt rage building within him. “Is this supposed to be amusing, Twilight Sparkle?! I don’t know what kind of joke this is, or what kind of illusion magic you are using. But you will cease it this instance!”
Hearing the anger in his voice, Twilight took an uncertain step backwards. “But, it’s no joke...”
“Oh please” Starswirl snarled, “You can’t just cast a spell and, Ta-Ta! Alicorn! That’s ludicrous, you would need to incorporate every single type of magical energy and weave them all together. And then you would need to keep it stable, despite the fact that some types of magic reacts to each other not unlike how cesium reacts to water.”
Twilight opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but Starswirl rolled over her.
“THEN you would have to transfer this magic into the subject pony, which would without doubt cause said pony to explode, leaving nothing behind but dust. And not to mention the need to break at least two fundamental laws of magic to do it. So please excuse my skepticism when you claim to have turned into an alicorn.”
Twilight adopted a serious expression, something Starswirl rarely saw from the her, “I know it sounds strange, but I had your notes, the elements of harmony and my friends. And together we made it happen.”
“Prove it” Starswirl said coldly.
Twilight frowned, “How?”
“Easy” Starswirl said, “We will simply take a look at your ‘new’ magical hoofprint.”
-----
Starswirl stared at the parchment in front of him, he couldn't believe it, he just couldn't. The spectrum displayed a perfect rainbow, without a doubt, confirming her as an alicorn. How could this be? He let out a deep sigh. He was beginning to feel embarrassed over his earlier outburst, but he had been so sure that she had been toying with him.
He shook his head before turning to Twilight, giving her a wry smile, “I'm sorry Twilight. But, it's not scientifically possible for you to have transformed into an alicorn. You –” he pointed a hoof a Twilight “– are not scientifically possible.”
His proclamation seemed to strike the purple alicorn like a physical blow, she swayed a bit. “I’m... not?” she asked, sounding unsettled.
“Like creating energy from nothing,” Starswirl hissed.
Twilight flinched, “That bad?”
“Worse,” he replied, “But tell me again how you managed it. You said something about a spell I couldn't solve?”
“Yes on the last page in your private journal.” Twilight said.
“Wait” Starswirl said, “You aren't talking about my private journal, right?”
“Ehh” Twilight hesitated, “I believe so.”
Starswirl felt that feeling again, the one with which he had become familiar with since meeting this purple terror. It was a mix of horror and awful inevitability that tended to settle in his gut. “How did you get your hooves on my private journal” he asked quietly.
“Princess Celestia sent it to me” Twilight replied, with a smile, “She believed that I could solve your unfinished masterpiece.”
“So… Celestia got her hooves on my private journal, read it and then spent decades passing it around to whomever she chose?” Starswirl asked, feeling oddly numb.
“I guess so” Twilight said frowning, “But I don’t see what you are worrying about… It’s not like there was anything embarrassing in it.”
“THERE WASN’T?” Starswirl asked, sounding both surprised and relieved. Then he blinked, something clicked in his mind, a puzzle piece had fallen into place, revealing the whole puzzle. Starswirl tossed his head back and laughed uproariously, “HAHA I see, I get it now!”
Twilight frowned at him, “What?”
In answer Starswirl levitated down his ‘current’ journal from the bookshelf and proceeded to start ripping out pages. “Lets see” Starswirl murmured, “Page 14, 16 and 22 definitely must go –” he ripped them out “– Ah, page 42, no one must ever see that one. Hmm, next is Page 68 122 and 132…” He continued in the same fashion, throughout the book, Twilight looking on in confusion.
“I take it you have the older journal with you?” Starswirl asked, “Knowing you, you were probably hoping to discuss the spell with me.”
Twilight nodded warily, levitating out the old tome from a satchel he hadn't noticed before, “What are you planning?”
Starswirl grinned mischievously as he grabbed the proffered book with his own magic, then he spun it around and opened it on the last page. He quickly scanned the text, before grabbing a pen.
Twilight looked on with growing unease as Starswirl copied everything that was written in his style from the old journal into the current one, on its empty last page.
“A mark off one's destiny singled out alone fulfilled,” he murmured as he finished. Then he grinned wide at Twilight, snapping the book shut and holding it up. “Oh woe is me” he said, his voice thick with sarcasm, “ I have worked so long on this spell, BUT I JUST CAN'T MAKE IT WORK, TRULY THIS IS MY SECRET UNFINISHED MASTERPIECE.”
Twilight stared at him, her face a mask of horror, “You...you can't do that!”
“I just did,” he said smugly.
“But aren't you worried about time paradoxes?”
“Twilight, don’t you think it’s a bit late for you to start worrying about time paradoxes,” Starswirl said sounding amused, “But if it makes you feel any better, know that there is no such thing as a time paradox.”
“There isn't?” Twilight asked doubtfully.
Starswirl, enjoying Twilight’s confusion, replied, “Let me give you an example.” He thought for a moment before asking, “Who invented cake?”
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, then paused, frowning.
“Ah, I see you understand,” Starswirl said, “Celestia got the recipe from Pinkie Pie whom probably got it from her mother, who in turn perhaps got it from a friend of her parents and so on, back all the way to Celestia. The truth is, cake has no inventor, it was spawned by an infinite loop in time.
Twilight frowned, “But surely every loop must has a beginning?”
“There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the wheel of time” Starswirl intoned gravely.
The purple alicorn pondered that for a moment, “Okay what about this: What if I were to travel back in time five minutes from now and tell myself not to go?”
“Well,” Starswirl replied, “Since you weren't here five minutes ago, that would be impossible. If you tried, there would be something ultimately preventing you from doing it.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“What you don't believe me?” Starswirl asked, “Here –” he tossed his current journal to her “– try destroying this. I promise you, somehow it will end up unharmed.”
“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, “What if we completely mess up time?”
“There!” Starswirl said, pointing a hoof at her, “The first obstacle presents itself. Uncertainty if it would be safe. As you can see it’s a very probable reason why you wouldn't go through with it.”
Twilight stood up and shot the older unicorn a defiant look, then she hurled his journal into the fireplace. They both looked at flames as they licked against the sides of the journal. Time stretched, but the journal remained unharmed. Suddenly Starswirl slapped a hoof to his forehead, “Ah, that's right! I flameproofed it way back when, I had totally forgotten.”
Twilight looked at him incredulously, “This can’t be for real, are you saying that if we keep trying something will keep getting in our way like this? Like if you hadn't flameproofed it, a wormhole would have appeared and teleported the book back to the shelf?”
“Nah the probability for such a thing is way too tiny” Starswirl replied, “It would be much more likely that you suffered a stroke and died before you could toss it.”
Twilight gaped at him, she had clearly not considered that possibility.
“Now that I think about it, trying to cause time paradoxes might be a lot more dangerous than one would think.” Starswirl said with a grin.
And there it is, hope you liked it. And I wrote that reference without even thinking.
Keeeep on turning!
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My brain hurts from the use of loops in time.
That doesn't disprove paradoxes, that just proves that the universe is actively fighting to prevent paradoxes.
And holy shit, was this Celestia's plan? Is Starswirl even half the genius he's reported to be?
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/79/Timecopposter.jpg/220px-Timecopposter.jpg
PRINCESS SPARKLE, THIS IS THE TIME POLICE! GET ON THE GROUND, NOW!
Starswirl always seems to end up as a mischevious and crafty old goat.
great scott
Well done, Star Swirl, that's how you make time travel work for you. Now you just have to figure out how to arrange the outfit and bells without having to actually start wearing them.
And Twilight, stop trying to force paradoxes on a universe that clearly doesn't want any. That way lies screams and terror and possibly the end of the world.
4668695
Then I kindly request a .gif of Starswirl doing that dance either bare or with the caption "fuck yeah magic"
Actually, the existence of a paradox resulting from a theory is generally indicative that the theory is fundamentally flawed.
4669953 Twilight creates a paradox... and Alondro is born.
That's right, everypony! I'm HER fault!
*Twilight's popularity plummets to lower than Diamond Tiara's*
Starswirl is now even cooler. Also something bad is going to happen and soon, and it'll set in motion a LOT of history. I'm quite certain of it.
Then the author screws me over because they know exactly what I'm talking about.
I always imagined if there ever was a thing as time travel, it would be a lot less explosive, and fragile, and explosively fragile than how everyone makes it out to be.
Now stick with me. In regards to those infinite loops, like here, there was that first loop where circumstances was different... Er, hang on, let's use It's About Time.
Past Twilight gets a visit from future Twilight, who gets past Twilight all worked up, blah blah blah, you all know the story. That is a self sufficient time loop that keeps happening because of itself.
But then there's the debates of how it all started. If future Twilight wasn't there, past Twilight wouldn't be panicking. But future Twilight is there, in which case who panicked ex-past/future Twilight?
My proposal is that the very first time events occurred, everything proceeded without what we see happening. Circumstances were different in this loop one, an alternate universe practically, where It's About Time had not happened. But then, in this alternate universe, there had to be an event that made Twilight go back in time to give her past self an actual warning (Let's say Cerebuses absence from the gates of pony hell shot all of Equestria into an actual apocalypse.) So the Twilight of this alternate universe goes back in time to warn past Twilight, but alternate universe Twilight disappears too soon. Past Twilight becomes It's About Time Twilight, thus setting into motion the events of the episode we see. (Without the apocalypse, since in the self sufficient loop, let's say Twilight's paranoia takes care of the apocalypse with returning Cerebus)
You all might argue that my example is all baseless speculation with what happens in the alternate universe. The example itself is not the point, the point is the idea that the first loop is different enough that it got the sufficient loop we see started in the first place.
Another example: Each loop, we designate a number. Sometime during Luna's banishment, the loop number advances.
Now the story we're reading. Let's call it loop 3. In loop 1, there is an actual inventor of cake. When loop 2 Twilight inevitably goes back from the future with the cake recipe into loop 1, and Starswirl asks loop 2 Twilight who invented cake, Loop 2 Twilight gives an answer.
But then, loop 2 goes on without an inventor for cake, since cake now already exists. So when the Twilight of loop 3 goes back into loop 2, loop 3 Twilight doesn't have an inventor for cake, and so we get the scene that we read.
You guys following me? There's my idea.
Cake is a timeless non-entity beyond the grasps of our mortal planes... That's... An interesting concept...
4670827
I can see what you are trying to say, all loops have an originating cause that is cut out of the equation after putting the loop in motion. It's a more intuitive way to see it, compared to my version. Though I prefer the explanation to be unintuitive, since I like to believe that the universe is complex enough that it wouldn't always be easy to understand.
Also the episode you talk about is "It's About Time" not "Lesson Zero".
4670493
Are you talking about the "hint" I gave 490 words into this chapter? If so, it's a complete coincidence and there is no hint there. None at all. Don't be silly.
4671356
Is this going to be one of those fics?
4671944
Whaaa... What are you talking about? That's the silliest thing I have ever heard! Don't go around putting crazy ideas into peoples heads. And spoiler that comment before someone sees it.
4671982
Done
4668777 th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/185/f/1/time_squad_by_zeekthehedgie-d55zteo.jpg
ITS GO TIME
4651830 or rewards her for introducing cake to a cakeless world
This is going to end with Twilight going back to her time and getting hit in the head with a rubber ball thrown by an alicorn Starswirl.
4670478 *Goes backwards in time and stops this fic from being written*
Temporal collapse eminent.
There should be a whole story if Twilight trying to break a time loop
pretty funny stuff
4675839 *Alondro goes further back in time to bribe the writer into writing it while you think it's not being written!*
“There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the wheel of time” But it was a beginning.
4675839 Worth it to get rid of that annoying Alondro!
Ah, but Twilight, loops in time can be tricky
Let's say you hop on a loop at some point, Point A, which would serve as the beginning. To reach the point that serves as the end, Point B, you would first have to travel through every point between the two points. Thus, due to the circular nature of the loop, we can assume that Point B is the single point directly beside Point A, in the opposite direction of which you travelled. They're right next to each other.
HOWEver, a single point in time has zero dimensions of space, therefore there is no feasible way to determine a two points with zero distance between them, therefore we can assume that the beginning and the end, Points A and B, occupy the same point. Therefore, the Alpha status of the single point directly contrasts with the Omega status of the point, up and down in the same direction, a 1 and a 0 occupying the same bit. And they cancel out.
And, as the position of this one point is completely arbitrary, and chosen on a whim, at random, every single point on the loop has an equal chance of occupying the statuses of beginning and end.
Therefore, we can assume, loops do indeed have no beginning or end
But, there is something loops do have: a center. A point which is equally distant from every other point on the loop, which exists inside of the loop itself, a center in abstract space. In the case of the Cake loop, the center of the time loop is cake itself. All cake in all of space and time is equidistant from this abstract central concept of Cake, which exists simply because it cannot not exist. It exists because there is no logical reason for it to not exist.
And, if you subscribe to any number of similar theories of Mind over Matter, Cake exists because we want it to
any supposed beginning or end to the existence of cake is due to the arbitrarily perceived linearity of time, but that will be disproved another day
THIS IS MADNESS!
4676695 So if I hack the site and delete the fic would we be rid of you?
My brain hurts.
I think this will explain things:
...Did I mention that I imagine Star Swirl speaking with the voice of John Hurt! Doctor Who? I think I did
Wait, if Twilight is responsible for...then...oh, dear.
4771188 Think about it with the multiverse in mind. It gets so, so much easier!
4671356
While this is a bit late, if its any consolation you should know that this is the generally agreed upon nature of how things would work if time travel were possible. As in, by physicists.
Admittedly, its a bitch to explain to people.
Really? Who would have guessed...
Maybe a mark of one's destiny?
Ah crap. You accidentally built an outcome pump. Don't play with it.
This is something I have trouble understanding. Like, I understand that we're doing closed loop time physics, so the probability of key events/objects turning out some way other than how they turned out is effectively zero -- forcing other probabilities, albeit tiny ones, to turn up instead. That's the broad mathematical reason, I imagine. Probability space is being stretched in response to a big chunk of it being removed.
But what's the actual mechanism? It feels like it'd have to be either a selection process or that time itself is somehow intelligent -- but I can't see a mechanism for a selection process.