Starlight Glimmer has gone back in time. Each time Twilight tries to stop Starlight, she fails and is flung back through the portal and into a broken, twisted Equestria, ravaged by wars or monsters, each version worse than the one before, barreling toward the destruction of the world. Until she lands in a version of Equestria that ... isn't worse. It seems unchanged, happy, normal. The only real difference she can find on the cutie map is that her castle isn't there ...
... but the library still is.
Editing by Formerly Committed and JetstreamGW.
Chapters (2)
That'll do, fledermaus. That'll do.
I don’t remember the last time a story made me cry, but let’s just say I have to reset the timer.
This was truly beautiful.
oof, my heart
"For once, everybody lives!"
--The Doctor
I enjoyed this, even if I felt that the more interesting conclusion would have been that the other timeline had been erased. Twilight having to learn to live with that and move forward is just more compelling to me. Also, doesn't this mean that all those other horrible timelines are intact as well?
Holy moly. *Slaps chapter 2* Now this is a good story right here, yessir.
Sequel! SEQUEL!!!
9793678
Probably you just need to take something from an alternate timeline to keep it running?
I swear I've seen this premise before. Is this based off of another story?
9793764
It is not based on another story, no, though I imagine playing with the different canon AUs and making up new ones in The Cutie Re-Mark is a pretty common jumping off point for fanfics, it's pretty rich soil for writing. I wouldn't be surprised if there are similar stories out there.
Dammit, you got me crying here. XD I figured the bracelet would play into it and I'm glad that I was right. That was a very sweet ending...but if that other reality still exists...then what of the other Starlight and that town? Will that Twilight realize what happened and will she still have her memories? Will she be able to do something and go through her own version of what Princess Twilight went through? Inquiring minds want to know! Also I do love how sweet that other universe was. I kinda want to revisit it. Consider a sequel, lol.
Loved both parts and how you let them end up together still in the end. Funny thing, I didn't even notice you were the author, I noticed your page breaks and remembered it from Spellbound Fireflies, one of my most favorite stories on here. I'm glad your still writing these amazing fimfics :)
9793764
I can think of 2 stories, one where Twilight ends up in a world where Sunset became a princess and one where she ends up in a world ruled by demon Sunset.
Can't remember the names unfortunately.
Now before I read the next chapter I just want to point out that the bracelet should create a paradox.
9793966
You might be thinking of The Reality I Choose and Long Live the Queen. The first one especially has a similar premise, though this one explores much deeper the ramifications of having to choose which timeline gets to exist.
In any case, I liked this, in particular the little twist at the end.
Just like life, the magic of friendship finds a way...
My eyes watered when I read the description of the wedding bracelet. That was great.
I agree with what 9793798 said. Beat me to the punch, actually. That Starlight is still out there, and might do stuff. There is totally room for a sequel, if you feel like it. Forced sequels are never as good, but if you happen to feel inspired by ideas, then please do. I love-hate this story because it made me misty-eyed, and I would love to see what else could happen.
Bats on top of the feature box once again! Love it! :D
So basically by giving Twilight the wedding band Applejack preserved her universe with out knowing it, giving her reality a anchor in Equestria "Prime". Makes you wonder where any other anchors unintentionally created? Of course show cannon says there IS a multiverse but all universes appear to have been created at the same time though Starlight do rewrite large portions of the spell who knows what new effects she added with out meaning to? Yes basically suggesting Twilight was wrong about what was going to happen, not a problem really, she went with the info she had with out the advantage of the outside perspective of the Author/Reader.
Dang!!
Started reading this at the end of the work day and could barely put my phone down I got so hooked.
I've seen similar concepts but none quite like this and the interactions between everyone were perfect.
Gotta admit, the science-y bits about multiverses and time travel and such flew a bit past me (there's another reason I relate to AJ), but I got enough of the jist to follow along and realize what was happening.
It's a tough decision, and I appreciate how much autonomy they all allow themselves and each other- Twilight (B) gives them the choice for their own timeline, and there's no good decision. Geez...
OOF man this hurt me with the feels
and makes me miss the Tree even more then I already have been lately with the show ending and such
ANYWAY
This was really good
Would recommend 10/10
~Reggie
Goddamnit bats, you come back and just Serious series: serious punch me in the heart like this.
Thanks for the feels running down my face when I should be asleep.
Having just watched Infinity War tonight, after rewatching the entire MCU with my parents over the course of the summer, I find myself feeling like G4 has just gotten the perfect send-off with your story. Not just for the timing and premise, but the depth of characterization and how you’ve honored the show’s first season, the one that made me irrevocably fall in love with these ponies and their world. Thank you.
Uuuh, touchy-feely.
Yes, i saw this Chekhov's gun from afar. The moment Applejack gave her this item, i was like: "Ohoho, you smart little potato, i see what you did there. You want to create a paradox by preserving the item without origin, to force it's origin to exist."
One thing though, if penchant didn't disappear, why would Twilight do? She could have lived then. And don't give me crap about having duplicate already, and not having one there for item. Because by this logic, if she marry here and make one as well, then gifted one will disappear. And it's has nothing to do with science anyway.
... Okay, I'm sold on this pairing now.
This is an intriguing world, but it does leave a few questions. What DID happen with Discord and Tirek? Where are the Changelings? If there was no Rainboom, how'd everyone wind up in Ponyville?
And we know a multiverse exists. There's Sunset's reality, Discord's dimension, maybe a few others...
Noice
9794773
The multiverse stuff is intentionally left vague, because the characters are working from limited knowledge, but places like the humanish world of Equestria Girls and Discord's home operate less like alternate realities and more like pocket dimensions inside of Equestria. They have their own rules and you can't necessarily walk there from Equestria, but they're more like places inside of the primary timeline than separate timelines. The "Library Equestria" would have its own, different versions of those places, which would be distinct from the primary timeline's versions thanks to what's different between Library Equestria and the main timeline.
All an can think of is you having an epilogue.
I was thinking one up to sorta poste on this but honestly I dont know how to put something as hidden, to hide spoilers.
Was going to be years latter with library Twilight getting a letter from P.Twilight.
Feh. The braching timelines trope is like the Princess Luna ON the moon, as opposed to the explicitly stated in canon IN the moon. A source for excessive drama where only a little bit of ignoring the canon goes a long way. Although even despite canon version of events, there's only 2 possible ways of things to work here. Either the Equis' shards always existed, just like Starlight was always meant to time travel and be stopped, or it's a single shard being re-written. In the first case, Twilight only gets to fix Starlight. In the second, the shard in question returned to it's stable, 'as intended' state, with all entities back the way they should be. Neither warrants any overflowing angst.
Also AppleLight. Feh squared.
9794853
9794833
Let's be honest though, the multiverse existing is really the only way for time travel to make sense in this case. If it doesn't then time travel gets really confusing because it's practically impossible to avoid a paradox when messing with your own timeline (which is why it's one of the few things the Doctor doesn't allow on Doctor Who).
Starlight's plan, for example, makes no sense without the multiverse because it falls into the problem of a grandfather paradox where she only travelled back in time to get revenge on Twilight but if she succeeds she'll be erasing her reason for going back in time in the first place. This clip sums it up nicely:
Still though, awesome story, we always need more TwilightxApplejack stories.
someone once said "It is not ours to know our time but ours to do what we can with what time we have even if it is only one night." noone ever thinks of what insanity it was that six barely trained noncombatants rushed into a forest of death expecting to never come out again. logistically speaking, this was a huge blunder that no commander worth the title would ever green light. and they got through. they came back. Library Twilight and her wife may not have been the heroes that Princess Twilight and her friends were but in that all important moment they did not falter, they did not waver, they stepped forward into danger knowing they weren't coming back. it is moments like these that separate the fakes from the heroes.
Star Swirl was wrong about a lot of things. The nature of space, time, and reality would hardly be a surprising addition to the list.
In any case, beautiful story. It may leave a few world building questions hanging, but those aren't what's important. What is is the bond between friends and lovers, the strength of character that sends ponies out into that midnight wood, and the incredible trust and faith these ponies have in each other and, in a bizarre sense, themselves.
Also, I appreciate how the alternate Twilight and Applejack each had a cutie mark that was somehow incomplete. Really captured the sense of some indefinable something being missing from the world.
Wonderful story. Thank you for it.
9795033
But as it functioned in It's About Time, time travel worked as a closed loop, so a paradox couldn't happen because all events of time travel were already present in the times they happened, with no changes possible. Meanwhile, Starlight's spell worked entirely differently, which Princess Twilight theorizes is because the spell was powerful enough not to allow for time travel specifically (going off of how she understands time travel to work as based on the events of It's About Time), but rather for the reshaping of all of reality, which, among other things, allows for the temporary, within-the-confines-of-the-spell, creation of multiple universes in order to avoid creating paradoxes. Thus, multiple universes are not the byproduct of the natural structure of the universe, but rather the byproduct of the spell that Starlight cast, and once the spell concluded, should have been destroyed and reset to the natural state of the universe barring any complications. At least as interpreted by the characters in the story, they are operating under limited information and may have interpreted things wrong.
9795305
Personally I believe it only operates in a closed loop because it could only be used once. If Twilight could have used it a second time she would have easily broken the loop. It was most likely a safety mechanism to prevent abuse but the fact it wound up as a closed loop was just dumb luck thanks to how Twilight wound up using it.
Basically she only travelled back in time because her future self did so but I doubt it's the only way the spell could be used as Starlight later proved.
Oh, all the feels!
9794833
I'm rather curious though, what was the event that was different to not cause the Sonic Rainboom and how did Nightmare Moon get released early and was it really Celestia that defeated her? I'm rather wondering if maybe Sunset became good and was part of the reason things were different and how did Starlight change things to allow that to happen.
9794853
If you were against the premise as set out by the tags to begin with, why are you here?
9795435
Those are questions that I have some answers for, which I'm not going to spoil because they may or may not get explored in the future if I opt to write a sequel to this story. No, like, 100% guarantee on a sequel, but there are a few possible story routes for continuation that I had in mind when writing this one, so it's something I might return to if the mood strikes me. The answers to specifics about how the Library Equestria developed the way it did might end up playing a significant role in the story, so I don't want to go into a bunch of details that might be plot points later. Plus, this way I reserve the right to wildly change my mind on what those specifics are and still write a story without contradicting stuff I said beforehand.
9795438
Ooooh I love your profile!
Transformers right?
9795546
Yep.
Fantastic story.
9795438
MLP: FiM Romance Drama Twilight Applejack.
Not against any of those by themselves. They're pretty ambiguous. It's the form they take here that I'm at odds with. And I wouldn't know that until I explored the fic, which is why I am here. Satisfied?
9795653
Generally speaking, when you see a romance tag, the characters tagged are the ones being shipped, yo.
Why if I didn't know any better, I'd say this is just your way of shipping Twijack
9795764
I can easily find a dozen fics where that's not the case, that and more. The design intent behind tags is merely to include
everything and a kitchen sinkabstract key aspects of the story. Even if something like 'drama' is so vague, the system works and helps with clarity and search. Shippings aren't included in the tags nor intended to be represented by them, so if someone chooses to imply something with a tag combination, well, that's on them.It used to be people declared shippings in a story description. That was certainly helpful.