Hybridization

by Pleiades

Prologus I: Retelling

The familiar emblem that was known as Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark appeared in the night sky in a burst of arcane light. It descended from the heavens to the ground, in front of her friends, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. From it appeared Twilight Sparkle herself… and with a grand flourish, she spread her new wings. She had become an alicorn, and achieved her destiny.

Then suddenly, everything ground to a halt. Everything seemed to blueshift, as time itself slowed to a stop.

Time is an interesting thing. We see time as linear, but it in fact is anything but linear.

Everything began to move again, but everything remained blueshifted. There was only one problem… everything was moving backwards.

Twilight folded her wings, and began to fade back into the light that had glorified her. The light rose back up, forming her emblem, which promptly vanished as her friends trotted, backwards, into the library that made Twilight’s home.

Like us, time is subject to the pressure of decision. It must decide whether or not to walk one path or the other.

Within the library, the ponies stood around a scorch mark in the shape of Twilight’s cutie mark. A flash of light, and energy returned to the Elements of Harmony around the ponies’ necks, and Twilight emerged from the flash of light, the Element of Magic on her head and her back devoid of wings.

Time, however, has no ability to decide for itself. So, instead, it divides like a cell, to account for every possibility the world will throw at it.

The reversal of time began to speed up. Plants began to shrink back into the ground. Trains were moving backwards at an immense rate of speed. Trixie was shooting up fireworks as she ran, backwards, into Ponyville, before Twilight reversed her havoc. Clones of Pinkie Pie were leaping back into the Mirror Pool. Finally, though, it stopped at King Sombra emerging from his gaseous form, licking his lips at the chance to consume the Crystal Heart. Everything still remained blueshifted, however, and everything stood still.

By following those branches of time, we can always find the answer to a question that has plagued even the wisest of men; “what if?” What if this had happened instead of that?

Time leaped backwards again, this time to Queen Chrysalis as she was being blown away by Princess Cadance and Shining Armor’s immense love. Her face was twisted in fear as the predator became the prey; as the love she so desired to consume became a fearsome weapon aimed directly at her.

Why don’t we find out?

Time continued to leap backwards, this time pausing at Discord being confronted by the six Bearers of the Elements, five of which had been corrupted, their whole bodies turning black, grey, and white.

Instead of allowing time to continue forward, why don’t we take a trip down memory lane?

Time leapt backwards again, this time to Twilight Sparkle confronting Nightmare Moon, the pieces of the shattered Elements of Harmony strewn at the dark mare’s feet.

Memory is, however, subject to change. We may remember one thing, but something else may have happened.

Time again leapt backwards, to that fateful moment where Twilight Sparkle, laying on the grass out on a sunny vacation day, realized that action had to be taken to prevent the return of Nightmare Moon, and as a result, the threat of eternal night.

Time is also subject to change. Every instance that time splits, a new universe is born. We assume that each universe is static; that we will make the decisions we have made because it is our path, and it is set in stone.

Time leapt backwards again, this time not to Twilight Sparkle, but to a young Rainbow Dash, who had successfully created a Sonic Rainboom; the first to grace Equestrian eyes. She was smiling with glee, which would inevitably be replaced by that of determination as time began to roll backwards again.

The use of both time travel and interuniversal travel will tell you otherwise. Changing events in one universe will not affect another, allowing universes to become echoes of each other.

Time finally leapt back to Twilight’s first Summer Sun Festival, where she decided to follow the path that led her to greatness as Celestia raised the sun for Equestria to celebrate.

But we are not seeking echoes. We seek possibilities. And time, being subject to change, will allow us to explore those possibilities.

Time did not stop there. But this time, it did not stop either. It would not stop, not until it had reached the desired point. Images of the past flashed by, faster and faster; the conquering of the Crystal Empire, the liberation of Equestria, the conquering of Equestria by Discord… Faster and faster, the images flew.

And so we shall. We shall explore a timeline where decisions were changed not just by free will, but by the change of facts as well.

Eventually, time did stop, but in a dark void. Everything returned to normal coloration; pitch black. Suddenly, there was a quick flash of light, and a little filly with a pink mane and white coat appeared, dropping onto the ground. She looked around, revealing that she had a horn, and stretched her wings. “Where… am I?” she wondered aloud, in spite of the fact that there was nopony to hear her.

We shall start from the beginning, like all stories, but we will tell the story differently.

She looked around at the black void. Then, growing a smile, she leapt into the air, and came crashing down, creating a shockwave that forced the earth into existence. That one crash boomed through time and space itself, heralding the birth of Equestria.