This story is a sequel to Blink
Teleportation. It is the best possible way to travel... As long as you don't think about it too much.
Twilight has had plenty of time to think about it. She knows what happens when she's neither here nor there. And if she has her way, nopony will ever teleport again.
I was so inspired by ocalhoun's story that I attempted to do some writing. I sent ocalhoun a PM with the results, not expecting a response, but I got one: "You should totally publish this as a sequel! ^.^"
This is the product of that inspiration. I hope you enjoy.
Dramatic Reading done by TheDizzyDan.
Chapters (1)
This is a good sequel to an already brilliant fic. I commend you my friend for satisfying me with this amazing work of literature.
Well, talk about making a grand entrance to Fimfic! This was well done indeed! I especially liked the progressive acceleration in the pacing as Twilight(s) raced toward completing the puzzle. I found myself reading almost as frantically as Twi was spellcasting.
To be honest, a small part of me wishes for a epilogue of sorts to catch the reaction/next steps of the Twilight who made it out. :)
Still, a tip of the hat to you for a job well done!
Cheers!
GMP
Encore!
Love me some dark fics
This is very well written; you have every right to feel proud! And for me, personally, not only did I get to read one great dark fic today, but two. Thank you for writing this wonderful Twilight Zone (ha) reminiscent story, and also for pointing me to its predecessor.
Good day!
So something I'm not seeing mentioned is what exactly brings all the old copies of Twilight's friends into this place of nothingness? Is Twilight herself taking her friends from time-to-time on large-scale teleportations with her that also kills them and then reforms them? I guess it's a good thing Twilight doesn't think about how she's effectively murdered her friends so many times.
edit: no wait I'm being stupid, forgot it was mentioned in the first fic
Thanks for all of the responses so far. I appreciate every one.
7957135 maybe sometime in the future? I've had thoughts about it.
Well, after I read this, I read the first one, and now I'm tempted to to a prequel with filly Twilight... the first teleportation.
Oh boy...
I really hope someone keeps this trend going and writes another sequel
I think this is a worthy sequel, but it begs for just one more. I would love to see the aftermath of what happens in the real world now that the secret behind teleportation has been discovered.
Double negative.
Gah! I'm glad she made it out but darn it, I wanna see the results. But that's the point. This Twilight doesn't get to see the results. She just knows that one made it out, and that's enough.
7957755
*instantly clicks the follow button*
No, no! You can't end it here! We need an epilogue with the Twilight who escaped!
Great story. I loved the original, and yours is a worthy successor.
Didn't you mean "ever"?
Beautiful. And you also made me read the original...
7957755 This NEEDS to happen....
Over a hundred upvotes and getting into the featured box on your first try?!
Knew this would get into the feature box! Well done!
Although, there simply HAS to be a third installment! Just to finish this madness!
Considering that you wrote this sequel... I might write a third. I've got a nice idea of how to make it play out...
7958894 I am super interested in how you would proceed.
Very dark, brilliant. There can be a prequel with filly Twilights first teleport, and a sequel with the survivor.
Yeah... Shudder.
If you look at how many times Twilight uses teleportation on Spike here... Yikes! It was raining dragons right then :).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-naRCKh74h8
P.S.
So there are at least 2 fics with similar idea.
Blinking by lumberjack; continuation of Blink by ocalhoun and Blink by zaponator
That last one had a few(?) "sequels"/inspirations too IIRC.
Can't find any right now. Is there a group or something like that with them?
If not I would be glad for a links/titles if you remember any.
Dude, this is amazingly well written! Will there be a sequel?
7959484 This is the sequel
7959510 Yes, I mean a story after this one.
I agree with everyone else. This is deserving of a sequel, one dealing with the aftermath of this revelation. Might I posit for the title, "Blinked"?
It needs a third chapter. The trapped Twilight needs rescue. And I doubt the saved Twilight would leave her there if she had a choice.
7957755
It would be interesting to see another fic where Twilight has to deal with the consequences of teleporting being destructive.
Also, it'd be nice to see her start obcessively teleporting food and drink around, as well as writing supplies and equipment in the hopes of it showing up and aiding in an escape attempt.
7959604
I... don't think that's a very good idea. For starters, that Twilight has been physically, mentally, and emotionally ruined by her experiences. Even if she were to survive, recovery is improbable, bordering on impossible. It's also far more likely that she'll simply die of her injuries, alone, but triumphant in knowing that she was able to save innumerable ponies an unfathomable amount of pain. To be perfectly honest, the knowledge that she could be the last one to suffer is probably all that kept her going at that point, what could life possibly be like afterwards?
In any case I will simply reserve a moment of silence for a very brave, very brilliant pony that didn't deserve the hand fate dealt her. And yes, I would also like to see this continued. Despite not being much of a fan of this particular sub-genre I find this series to be very... emotional, in a good way. I think it's the feeling of hope each installment leaves you with, the idea that maybe, just maybe, you can still make a difference.
I absolutely need more! This was so good!
I think I actually like this series better than the one by Zapponator. No offense to him, his story is great in its own way, but at the same time Twilight's clinical investigation of her spell in that story lacks the subtle psychological impact that these stories deliver.
Of course, neither story's versions of the Blink spell conform to my own headcanon, in which Twilight is essentially folding space and time to connect the two points and either falls or runs through the resulting fissure, but that doesn't mean that I don't think they're good.
Also, I agree, a resolution to this nightmare would be great. A short fic about Filly Twilight Prime would be interesting, too, but I'm not sure I could stand reading about the anguish of a child going through this... even thinking about it is giving me the willies...
I like this better than the original, because frankly I find the original a little over the top. I actually laughed while reading parts of it, just because it was such an absurdly horrific situation. I personally think that horror needs to be at least somewhat plausible to be horrifying.
The main logical problem I have with this whole scenario is that the original is still being teleported into the sphere, and the copy is being teleported out of it. This means that it is possible to teleport without the sphere, which exists purely for the sake of tormenting Twilight.
In my head cannon at least, spells work like equations, and someone with a theoretical understanding of magic (like Twilight) would understand exactly what a spell was supposed to do and how it worked. If the teleportation spell really killed the original (or oddly sent the original to a hell sphere) and left a copy in her place, she would be aware of that. The fact that she uses the spell so casually indicates that either it's not a duplication spell, or it is and she just has the same inexplicable apathy about it as the people on Star Trek.
I also couldn't help but be amused by the thought of whether or not this happens to everyone on Star Trek.
Even if the teleportation spell did cause this, if Twilight could figure it out then you would think Luna or Celestia would have figured it out centuries ago.
Anyway Lumberjack, don't let my obsessive over analysis get you down. You get a thumbs up from me, although I just realized how odd it is we use thumbs up/down when ponies don't have any.
7960004 I think of it more like plane shifting. The sphere is another plane, and Twilight shifts to there and then the copy is shifted back to Equestria, but in a different geographic place.
The only thing here that contradicts the original story is... In the first one we were told that Twilight was unable to cast any spells in this place. I'm guessing you changed that deliberately, because otherwise you wouldn't have anything to work with.
My own headcanon with regard to teleportation is quite different. . . I reckon that it transforms the caster into a cloud of magic smoke (for lack of a better term) that rapidly flows to the destination and then re-forms into a pony. (Just like a genie coming out of a bottle, eh? Or like Spike's letters.) The smoke doesn't go into any alternate dimensions or sidestep reality -- which means you can't teleport in or out of a sealed room or container. There's got to at least be a path for the smoke to flow, even if it's only a small hole or vent of some sort.
I also figured that normal teleportation requires the caster to visualize the path beforehand and effectively pre-program the smoke to follow it, since they aren't conscious while they're in smoke form. But a very advanced spell caster could remain conscious and guide the smoke and materialize at will -- thus explaining how Nightmare Moon was able to move around as a dark cloud. It's just super-teleportation!
7960541 there is also the theory of magic being four-dimensional in nature and allowing the caster to bend space and create wormholes to teleport.
7959795 ..Has she EVER teleported WITH food?... you may be on to something.
Twilight could sustain the one that saved her by teleporting food and water to her while she works on a way to get her home. It would be very long term but it gives the trapped Twilight a fighting chance.
7960588
I guess it's just me, but I have a bias against using scientific (or pseudo-scientific) explanations for magic. In my mind, magic is almost the opposite of science. I'd rather go back to pre-scientific, mythological or fairy tale explanations of how things work. I try to imagine how somebody from 5000 years ago, who knows nothing about science, might explain it, and then I say "YES! That's exactly how it works."
Blink Dagger? Really?
Intense and creepy! Well done.
7960541 I allways thout it worked like a stargate or maby tracers blink abillity from overwatch.
I really like your continuation. I kind of want to see a fic now, about the outside of what happens, maybe a split fic where it shows the two sides.
Does Discord know about this, I wonder...
7960990 When the magic violates the laws of physics, trying to use science to explain what science states cannot possibly occur is just plain silly.
sequel now
7960990 All Science is, is explanations of natural phenomenon. If Magic is real and exists in a world, then by definition, it must be scientific in nature. Maybe the laws of of physics are different in this alternate reality, but by the very inherent meaning behind the word 'science', all magic is scientific in nature.
7961837 interesting thought. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why he's insane. Why he's so able to transport or bend reality to his will.
#1 This was REALLY good!
#2 MOAR!! Though hopefully the sequel won't be QUITE as gruesome. I would LOVE to hear how HORRIFIED Celestia will be when she hears The Truth
Sweet jesus... Blink was good I'll give it that, but you've taken the idea and ran with it to a whole new level of amazing. Have a mustache!
7962549 Right?? It could well be that Discord knows and he just turns a blind eye to teleportation - he would be the Cassandra of it. He could warn everyone, but they wouldn't believe him. After all - when someone Teleports, they're perfectly fine! No worse for wear and not a hair out of place.
... Until Twilight...
7961837 he probably knows, but has long forgotten. It's not like he visits there after all or would have reason to go there. Every copy of Fluttershy is the same afterall. Now if Fluttershy was teleporting and didn't come back, then yes I could see him looking for her in the place in between teleports.