A Variant Issue

by Sandvich Brony

Ponyville

---------------{]Chapter 6: Ponyville[}---------------

Jace was having mixed emotions about his plans for the day. His basic plan was to head to Ponyville and walk around a bit and do something, though he didn't know exactly what he was going to do. It was probably going to be a choice between visiting iconic places in town from the show, trying to get acquainted with Rainbow Dash, or just walking around town and meeting the ponies that weren't at the party. The problem at hand, he couldn't decide.

"Jace, you okay?" Twilight asked from across the table.

"Huh, what?" Jace responded.

"You stopped eating your breakfast and had a far-off look. I'm just making sure you were okay" She said. A look of curiosity mixed with worry was staring at him.

"Oh, Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just wondering what I'm going to do today. I was going to head to town, but I don't know exactly what I want to do while I'm there." He explained. "So far, it's a split decision between sightseeing or a social marathon with meeting other ponies who missed last night's shindig."

"Well, are you going to be there all day?" Twilight questioned.

"Pretty much. Why?"

"Well, if you are going to be there all day, you should have time to go see what you want to see and have time to meet everypony else."

Jace facepalmed. "Thank you Twilight. Now I feel stupid."

"That wasn't my intention." She explained. "Anyway, since you are going to be there all day, I think you should have some spending money." Twilight got up from the table and left the room. A moment later, she returned with her horn aglow, some bits hanging in mid-air in front of her. She then sat back down and levitated the coins over to Jace's side of the table. "Here's some bits for the day. It should be enough for lunch and anything else you may want."

"Alright then, thanks." Jace counted the bits laid on the table and slid them into his staff pouch. "Finally, this has a use other than looks." he thought to himself. "Hey, could I get a map before I head out?" he asked.

"Sure. By the way, if you're thinking of going soon, you may want to finish your plate," Twilight said pointing at his still filled plate.

Jace looked down. "Yeah, maybe."

---------------{]-[}---------------

Food downed and a map acquired, Jace was on his way to Ponyville. Though he knew his plans for the day, he didn't know where to start.

"Okay, I could start at the library, but then Rarity would most likely ask more questions. Maybe I could start at Carousel Boutique?" Jace shook his head. "No, no, definitely not. Why did I even think that would be a good idea? Hmm, the market could be an interesting place to go. Especially since it's mostly uncharted territory. Naa, maybe later." Then the perfect idea came to him. "There would be the best place to start! The perfect combo of nostalgia and indulgence."

Eventually, Jace made it to the town. Walking around gave him immediate attention. Some ponies gave him a small glance and then they went on with their business. Others stared at him constantly either with a look of curiosity, a look of fear, or a mix of both. Whatever the case, Jace kept walking. A he stopped few times to checked his map to see if he was on track. Mostly, he found he was still in the right direction, though sometimes he realized he turned to early. Finally, he found the place he had been looking for.

Sugarcube Corner was dead ahead.

Jace was amazed at the building's structure. It actually did look like it was a gingerbread house. The show's representation had nothing on the real deal. With a deep breath and a short pause to close his gaping mouth, he stepped inside.

The first thing Jace noticed when he walked in besides the overpowering sweet scent, the mixed reactions he received.

Some did not seem sure on how to react. Others were more or less fine with him. But some were visibly shaken to the point that they were either shivering or fainting, the latter making him stifle some laughter. Whatever the case, he walked up to the counter to meet a very scared Mr. Cake.

"Uh, c-can I-I help you?" He asked.

"Um, yeah. How much for a couple cupcakes?" Jace asked with a smile.

Immediately after he spoke, a clattering could be heard in the kitchen and a familiar face appeared.

"Jace! Good to see you here."

"Nice seeing you to, Sea Foam." Jace said.

"Wait," Mr. Cake's fear was now replaced with pure shock. "You know him?"

"Well, yeah. We met at the party last night. Don't you remember?" Sea Foam leaned in to make her point.

"Uh, would that be the large order we got yesterday from Applebloom?" Mr. Cake seemed to be over his initial shock.

"That's the one!" Sea Foam said gleefully.

"Um, can I get my cupcakes now?" Jace was getting a little impatient.

"Oh, sorry. How many was that?" Mr. Cake was still wary, but he looked like he was okay.

"I just wanted two."

"Okay then, that'll be three bits."

Jace placed the money on the counter and received his reward. He found a place to sit at a table that wasn't occupied and began eating his snack. About half way through his first cupcake, Sea Foam came out of the kitchen with her own cupcake and joined him. Jace was immediately aware of the eyes bearing down on her as she trotted towards the table.

"Room for one more?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." He answered. She sat down and placed the cupcake and began unwrapping it. During this time, Jace realized something. "Hey, Sea Foam. Do you know why Mr. Cake wasn't to surprised when I started talking? Or how he knew I was a guy?"

"Oh, that? Well, after last night, talk of a human in our midst spread throughout the town like wildfire."

"So ponies have been talking about me around town?"

"Pretty much." She took a bite from her cupcake.

"Hmm, a little more exposure than I thought I would get from last night." Jace finished his first cupcake and began unwrapping his second.

"Speaking about last night, what do you know about sea ponies?" Sea Foam asked this as if it was a completely normal question. Jace did not think it was however.

"Come again?" He asked. His eyes narrowed.

"What do you know about sea ponies?" She asked again.

"Uh... um... ah.." Jace was rapidly going through his brain for anything he knew on the subject. However, the search turned up empty. "I got nothin'."

"Oh, okay then. I didn't know if you knew more. To be honest, you're the first person to believe me."

"I've seen enough to believe it." he replied. He finished his cupcake and stood. "Well, thanks for the chat. I'm going to head out and see more of town. See ya later."

Jace walked out of the building and again went through his list of places to go. He whipped out his map and found the closest location. He turned and looked down the road. "To the library!" He shouted dramatically without reason. Jace began running, tree in his sights.

---------------{]-[}---------------

Having found that the market was on the way, he grabbed an apple for lunch. It was during the final bites that he discovered the tree.

To begin with, it was enormous. It was bigger around at the base than a giant sequoia. The height was debatable, due to the tree still had live branches. How this was, Jace could only imagine. Once again closing his dropped jaw. He walked in.

"Hello?" Jace said as he stepped through the doorway.

"One minute!" a voice from upstairs said. Footsteps were heard coming from the stairs and Spike appeared. Jace was elated at the fact that he was going to meet him, but then Spike spotted him and ran back upstairs. Sounds of what could be understood as either an argument or a calming talk-down came from the room. Eventually, the door opened and Rarity appeared with a reluctant Spike in tow.

"Jace! pleasant surprise seeing you her," Rarity began. "Sorry about Spike here. He's not usually like this."

"It's okay. I can understand him being scared of me. I mean its just a big bipedal that no one has ever seen walking into a library," Jace assured.

"Well in any case, what are you doing here?" Rarity asked.

"I was just walking around town and the tree is kind of hard to miss." he replied nonchalantly

"Oh, well if that's it. Do you want to take out a book while you're here?" She asked politely.

"Um, not today. I might do some reading but I'm not taking anything just yet."

"Alright then." She turned to her assistant. "Spike, I need to finish my work upstairs. Could you help our guest if he needs anything?"

"Yeah, sure," he gave a glance at Jace.

"Thank you." On that note, she trotted upstairs and shut the door. Spike looked at Jace. "So, what kind of a book were you looking for?"

"Hmm, what do you have on dimensional or time travel?" he asked.

"That section is over there." Spike pointed at a section of shelves. "Those two should have some books. Why do you need them?"

"Well, I'm trying to figure out just how I got here." Jace answered.

"Yeah, right..." Spike seemed unsure, so Jace changed the subject.

"So, you got over your initial fear rather quickly."

"Well, yeah. Rarity knows you, so that already tells me I can trust you. And then there's the rumors that came last night."

"That makes sense. Ah, this one seems good." he pulled out a semi-thick book titled 'Overview of Timelines and Dimensions'. He walked over to a nearby table and started reading.

Time and space are known to have special properties. The most widely known properties are alternate timelines and alternate dimensions. To begin with, I'll start with alternate timelines.

Alternate timelines are, in layman's terms, a different life. They are the product of decisions one makes in their lives. When a pony comes across a choice he or she must make, they go on in life making one decision. But what happens to the other choice(s)? That decision is also made, though in a different timeline. Envision a rope made up of dozens of different fibers. Now take the rope and split one of the ends in two. Now imagine a pony that makes a decision. One side of the split rope goes on to live one choice, and the other goes on to live the different choice. Though spells do exist to jump from one timeline to another, this is not advised. Major issues could occur if such a thing were to happen, such as a mass exodus of ponies wanting a better life.

Alternate dimensions are the theory of different and separate universes beyond our own. They are not easily accessible due to the fact that they may obey different rules of reality. There are believed to be multiple different categories of dimensions, and each category has its own separate kinds of dimensions. The biggest of the dimensional categories is the parallel dimensions. These are dimensions that may look the same, but are different in almost every way, eg. finding a race of creatures that are normally not sentient living lives that are similar to our own.

A word of warning, do not mistake parallel dimensions for alternate timelines. It may get confusing, but keep this in mind. If the people are the same, but there is a difference in what has happened in the course of history, then it is an alternate timeline. If there is a difference in the people with minor differences that only exist due to the people being different, then it is a parallel dimension...

The book went on, but Jace was not to sure what to do with the information he just learned.

"So, I'm in what could be either an alternate universe, or an alternate timeline from the show. But if the latter is the case, than that would mean that either I jumped somehow, or I traveled down a different road than the show. Wait, if that's happened, then that would mean that I'm in the future?" His brain was about to explode from just learning this. "Ugh, I need a break." Jace closed the book, stood up, and handed it to Spike.

"Thanks for the help," He said.

"I don't really see how I helped, but your welcome," the dragon replied. It fell on deaf ears however, as Jace was out the door already.

Mind still swimming, he tried to get his mind off the subject. In an attempt to do so, he chose a different way back to the farm. The time was getting late, and the sun was beginning to set. Eventually, his plan took effect. Jace found some ponies who weren't too afraid of him that weren't at the party and managed to pick up a conversation with them. These conversations included a strange exchange of ideas with the doctor, a short chat with BonBon concluding in her running off saying she owed Lyra five bits, and a talk on favorite baked goods with Derpy. It seemed that the day would end well, until Jace found something that confused him.

The building known to him as carousel boutique was now sitting in front of him. Jace was confused enough seeing that the place was still standing, but more confusing was that it seemed to be well kept. In short, it looked almost exactly like it did in the show. If there were any changes, they were too small to notice. This just added to the massive mix of terror.

"If Rarity no longer lives here, then how does this place show no signs of decay?" His brain was wrought with chaos. Swallowing his doubts and fears, he stepped indoors.

The drastic change was unexpected. Inside the building, there was not a single thing that came close to how the show depicted it. The entire first floor looked more industrialized and modern. It looked more like a workshop than a clothing store. Tools, materials, and worktables were spread around the room in a fashion that shouldn't look orderly, but did anyway (the term 'organized chaos' came to mind). There were a few items on display that made Jace nearly die from overexposure to startling revelations. All of them were, in general, sports and rec. equipment, though they had a bit of a flourish to them. It was as if a popular designer took over an REI store. He didn't have much time to take in the scene around him. From one of the connecting hallways came a familiar orange filly.

"Hi Jace! What are you doing here?" Scootaloo asked exuberantly.

"Uh, what? Oh. Well, the outside looked interesting. The contrast inside is kind of big though." Jace was caught off guard at her question.

"Well, since you're here, I should begin with the usual for newcomers, welcome to Flashworks!" she smiled and gestured with a hoof.

"Where?"

"Flashworks. It's nothing much. Really it's the workshop and living place for Rainbow Dash and me."

He was taken aback at hearing what Scootaloo just said. "Wait, who!?"

"Oh, oh. I should introduce you two! Wait right here." Jace's reaction went unnoticed. He was now in a state of panic.

"Rainbow Dash is what now!? The heck is happening? Am I sure I heard her right? Okay, deep breaths. Maybe I'm getting ahead of my self. Let's just sit tight and wait for Scootaloo." the entire time, he was trying to calm himself down. Eventually, Scootaloo returned.

"Okay, now that everyone's here. Rainbow Dash, meet Jace. Jace..." A familiar cyan pegasus came out. Jace was in complete shock. "...meet Rainbow Dash."

"Just what the heck is going on here!?"

(]----------{][}-----------[)

A/N: Well, I don't know about you guys, but I've noticed cliffhangers are used quite a bit in stories no matter what kind. In any case, I think I have an idea of what I'm going to do for the future chapters (in other words, I have an outline), so waits shouldn't be too long. That being said, Sandvich brony signing off saying Happy Thanksgiving!

Comments

[notMurphy]

"...an REI store..."
hmm, seems legit.
A bit flighty, but that makes sense, Jace would be trying not to get overwhelmed and at the same time want to see EVERYTHING.

[Gypsy]

I still don't get how he knows the show and seen that he's not in that dimension but in one with role reversals, so why is he still fucking acting like a dumbass? eh whatever writing purposes I guess, keep going

[Two-HeadedSnake]

So this means sweetie Bella is a orpan right?

[Sandvich Brony]

1858535 Have you read the origional story yet?

[Two-HeadedSnake]

Can't say I have