Or Are We the Universe Where Everything Is Slightly To the Right?
Twilight Sparkle stood there, in the middle of her throne room, Spike watching on with mild interest.
For a short moment, she was confused, dazed, momentarily stunned by the interdimensional travel she had just gone through, even though she had been completely expecting it this time around.
She blinked again and took a slight step backwards, then another, and unceremoniously bumped into one of the many pieces of monitoring equipment that she had set up.
Briefly, before the rest of her mind caught back up to her current situation, the only thought that went through her head was that she could’ve sworn that the machine was just a little closer to her than it apparently was.
And then everything fell back into place.
The Cutie Map.
The alternate universe.
The maddening realization that nothing in the other world was any different from her own.
The heavy decision to give up.
And now she was back in her own universe once again.
Her eyes quickly glanced about the room, taking in the fact that she was finally back home.
The Cutie Map. The thrones. The Golden Oak Library Chandelier. The green stained glass windows. The purple crystal walls.
It was home.
It was a relief and a comfort to be back, despite the fact that the other world had been entirely the same as this one.
And there was Spike, standing there, just where he should be.
He waved at her.
With a deep breath, she straightened up, recollecting herself some.
This was her universe, her castle, her home.
Twilight Sparkle stepped slightly back to the left, returning to what was familiar and good. This was what was normal for her (she had not fully understood why, but she had felt somewhat uneasy in the other reality, a feeling that had vanished now that she was back).
She blinked.
“Spike!” she said, her eyes focusing onto the dragon. “Is… Was there just another me here?”
He laughed at that. “Yeah. Yeah, she was just here. She was pretty much a clone of you in every way.” He paused here, a thought occurring to him. “…You are my Twilight, right?”
She glanced down at her body, as if that would readily provide an answer, and then locked eyes with Spike. “I… I think so… I should be. I returned to my own universe.” And then, firmer. “I am. I’m back.”
“Oh good. It’s hard to tell, since the other Twilight was so similar to you that I forgot that she wasn’t you sometimes.”
“Yeah?” She took a few steps forward, going to meet him. “That happened to the Spike over in the universe I visited too. So is it safe to assume pretty much the same thing happened here that I experienced ov—OW!”
She forcibly collided with one of the thrones, as it was not in the spot where she knew it to be. “Why is this—did somepony move this?” With a quick burst of magic, she shoved the throne back to its usual position.
“Uhh… I think so?” Spike chuckled. “The other Twilight must’ve. She rearranged a bunch of stuff around the castle 'cause she said it wasn’t in the right spot.”
Now Twilight was confused. “Why would she do that? The thrones don’t go…” Her eyes drifted around the room. Everything in the room was just a little out of place. A little too far…
One of her eyes twitched.
Oh no.
No. No. That couldn’t be it. Twilight refused to believe that. There was no way that was the difference between her universe and the other. There was no way. That would be silly.
…Right?
Yes. Of course.
That would be entirely nonsensical. There was no way the difference between two timelines would be so…so ridiculous.
No matter the fact that even she, in the other universe, had been rearranging everything as well, because she had felt it was out of place. It had all been too far to the right.
No matter that such a thing would be entirely within the realm of possibility.
And all of that time spent trying to figure out the difference between the two timelines, when it had been literally staring her in the face the entire time? It couldn’t have been that. She would’ve noticed (even though she did, several times in fact, said a small part of her mind).
It had to have been something else.
It had to be.
She shook the thoughts from her head, unwilling to entertain them any longer.
“Other Spike says hello by the way,” she told her Spike.
“Hello!” he said back with a cheeky grin.
He always did that whenever he was told somepony else had passed along greetings, as he never knew quite how to reply. He would just respond back, as if the other party could hear him. He found it amusing.
Twilight did not, but it was endearing anyways.
Just then, her stomach rumbled rather loudly, filling the silence of the room.
How was she hungry again? Her ears splayed flat against her head as a wave of mortification flowed through her. This happened much too often for her liking.
It had been some time since they had eaten lunch, of course. A couple of hours. She had spent most of the afternoon and the evening in the other universe in the library trying to figure out where the timelines had diverged, to no avail.
And then her stomach grumbled even more.
“Jeez, Twi,” commented Spike, “Hungry again? Didn’t we just eat?”
Twilight glared at him. “We did not! It’s been—” Her eyes found the clock, tick tocking from up on the wall. “—almost six hours since we had lunch. That’s plenty of time!”
“If you say so. I don’t feel that hungry.”
“Well, I have an alicorn metabolism. We have to eat more.”
“Yeah? And I have a dragon metabolism. I’ve always had to eat more than you, alicorn or not, and I’m still pretty full.”
She chuckled nervously, as her stomach made even further noises. “…Would you believe that interdimensional travel makes you hungry?”
Spike rolled his eyes and smirked. “Sure, Twi. Whatever you say." He turned and walked from the room, Twilight catching up with him soon after.
They walked side by side, neither one of them too far to the left or to the right from the other.
It was perfect.
It wasn’t something Twilight had consciously noticed when she was in the other world, but the slight differences in where others stood in relation to her home universe had unsettled her. As such, she wasn’t entirely sure why she felt so relieved to be back home.
“Besides,” she continued, “It’s about dinnertime anyways. It’s always good to keep on schedule. If we ate too late, we would be too full for breakfast the next day, and then everything would be thrown out of whack. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s just an old saying.”
She sighed. “Fine then. If you don’t want to eat, then I’m not going to force you. You can tell me all about your time with the other Twilight while I eat something. Just don’t come crying to me when you’re hungry in a couple of hours.”
Of course, she would’ve wanted him to tell his story regardless, but at least now he could do it without having to eat throughout it. She was incredibly curious as to what sort of Twilight had ended up here.
See, as strange as it may sound, she had found herself in a universe virtually identical to her own. From what she could tell while she was there, everything was exactly the same. And, judging by what Spike had said earlier, about the other Twilight also being similar to her, it sounded as if comparable, if not the same events had played out here as well.
It surely would’ve been a very big coincidence if she and Other Twilight had merely swapped universes, but it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. Out of all the near infinite number of alternate worlds out there, the chances that the other Twilight from the universe she had visited had ended up here, would be almost preposterous. And, adding on to that, the fact that their two universes were practically identical to each other? Twilight did not even want to know probabilities of that happening.
But, of course, that was exactly what had happened, though she had no way of knowing that at the moment.
All for the better, probably.
It would’ve been particularly cruel to her sanity if she ever figured that out.
She probably would have a meltdown or something similar.
Too bad that was exactly what was going to happen.
As it was, the sheer relief and peacefulness she had been feeling by simply being back in her home universe was shattered the moment they entered the kitchen.
Everything there was out of place as well.
Noticeably so.
So very so.
It was all too far to the right, much in the same way it had been in the other reality.
She had spent so much time there moving everything back to where she knew it to be, and now here it was all wrong again.
It was all wrong.
“Oh come on!” She nickered in frustration, coming to an abrupt halt as she took in the kitchen. She had been silently dreading something like this ever since she realized that the throne room had been in the same situation, hoping that it wouldn’t be true.
“Did she move everything here slightly to the right?!” She, here referring to Other Twilight.
Spike walked past Twilight, who was still standing motionless in the doorway. “You know, she kept complaining about the exact opposite thing. That everything was slightly too far to the left or something. She kept bumping into things.”
Twilight’s face scrunched up in confusion, her ears laid back against her head. “…I was doing that in the other world too. Everything was out of place, and I was all out of sorts because of it. I didn’t even think…” Her voice was quiet.
For a moment, nothing.
The implications ran through her head. It seemed as if her initial suspicions were correct, however preposterous they had been.
“So what? Me and the other Twilight switched universes, and the only difference was that everything was moved slightly to the left or right in relation to our home universe?!” A low whinny escaped her throat. “I… I can’t…”
It was too much.
After everything, after all that time and effort, that was the difference?!
It was the only thing that made sense.
The only thing that could.
Twilight Sparkle had been transported to an alternate universe where everything was moved slightly to the right.
And the Twilight from that universe had come to this one, where everything was moved slightly to the left, in relation.
That was…so incredibly stupid. So exceptionally discouraging.
For once, Twilight Sparkle would have been perfectly fine not knowing.
She blinked.
Then blinked again.
Her jaw clenched, teeth grinding against each other.
One of her hooves tapped uneasily against the ground, a muscle spasming.
It looked as if she was about to say something more, but then didn’t.
She blinked again, an eye twitching unbidden.
She took a deep breath in.
And exhaled.
Again, in.
And out.
Her eyes looked at nothing in particular.
“I’m going to bed.”
“What?” said Spike.
“I’m going to bed,” she repeated. “I’m done with today.”
And with that, she turned and began walking away. Spike played catch up this time as she continued on, her voice low and weary. “…That is the absolute worst alternate universe I’ve ever heard of. I was already stressed out because I couldn’t figure it out over there, and then I come here and find out that everything was only in a slightly different position? I’m done.”
He was confused. He didn’t quite understand what she had figured out. “What’re you talking about, Twi? What’s different?”
She opened her mouth, as if she was going to expound further, but then shut it again with a snap. “I’ll tell you later. Right now, I’m tired. It’s been a long day. I’m not even hungry anymore.”
“I… Okay… That’s fine.” He decided not to push it any further. She looked as if she was going to freak out if anything else annoyed her further. He had learned long ago not to antagonize her past a certain point, and she was clearly there now.
He gently grabbed one of her hooves and led her down the hall. He knew how to handle her in this state. “It’s okay, Twilight. Why don’t you go lay down for a while? Travelling through dimensions is exhausting, after all.”
She nodded numbly, muttering a quiet word of thanks under her breath. She was glad he seemed to understand she needed to be alone.
After everything that had happened and all the effort and time she had put in, finding out the true difference between the two universes practically broke her. It was such a letdown. A disappointment. Disheartening.
Together, they walked up the stairs and down the hall to her bedroom.
It took several minutes to do so, as the castle was so large, but they eventually made it.
Spike opened the large door with only minor difficulty, and ushered her inside.
“Okay now, you get some rest.” His voice was soft. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
And with that, without waiting for a response, he shut the door, leaving Twilight alone in her room.
She stood there for some time, just inside the doorway, not moving an inch.
All of the energy in her body was gone. All the excitement that had filled her earlier in the day, drained away.
She could scarcely believe it…
An alternate universe where everything was slightly to the right.
Out of everything it could be, it was that.
She could scarcely believe it.
But the facts were there.
She had gone to the other universe, and complained about everything being too far to the right.
And the other Twilight had come here, complaining about how everything was moved to the left.
She took a step forward.
Then, another.
Her eyes focused properly on her bedroom, taking it in for the first time since she had gotten in.
This was her room.
Her sanctuary.
Her quiet place.
This was where, after a long and stressful day, she could just forget about her problems and relax.
This was where she needed to be right now.
And everything was in the exact place it should have been.
The other Twilight never changed anything here.
Nothing was out of place.
Everything was perfect.
Not too far to the right.
Not too far to the left.
Everything was good.
Everything was right with the world, here, inside this one room.
And Twilight Sparkle was happy.
She crawled into bed, hoping to just get through the rest of the day and get a fresh start tomorrow, but ended up staring blankly at the canopy above her for several hours, her precious and coveted sleep eluding her.
Several thoughts ran through her head during that time, the least of which was the realization that she would have to go and completely reorganize both the entire library and the kitchen, as they were both still messed up.
It was only around midnight that she finally drifted off into a peaceful and dreamless sleep, of which she was rudely awakened from at about seven o’clock when Rainbow Dash abruptly crashed into the side of the castle and snapped off one of the spires.
But that is not this story.
This story ends as many, many others before it have. With a mare named Twilight Sparkle.
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Wheeeeeeeew, what a story this was, an interesting little tale.
I liked it, 10/10 DCS would read again.
Good show.
Love it!
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Thanks! Glad you had a good time.
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Glad you wrote it!
Under rated story.
This fic made me smile a bit. The Cutie Map table got its subtle revenge on Twilight.
Fics like these make me feel that there should be an actual classification of fics in this fandom for 'High-strung anal-retentive Twilight is brought low by practically anything'
Sensible chuckle.
From this point in, every repitition of the word "right" was much funnier than they ought to have been.
Moving everything to the left or right shouldn't do anything. Or was it not everything? If the table is further left, then shouldn't the walls of the room also be further left? It should all be equivalent to Twilight taking a step to the right.
Also, left is right and right is left when you look from the other side.