Where Do Little Fillies Go When They Donât Exist?
âNo matter how often this happens, I still hate it,â Dinky muttered, sitting on the sand next to the campfire.
Tootsie Flute, who seemed busy watching her hooves, raised her head and shrugged. âWhat happened?â
âI was in that place where Carrot Top was my mom,â Dinky replied. âI was just going to school and then suddenly I was in the middle of the desert.â She looked around. âWhy are we even in the middle of the desert? For someone to save us?â
âIâm afraid no oneâs coming to save us.â
Dinky and Tootsie jumped, startled. Ruby Pinch went into the circle of light from the campfire, her expression as dire as her words. She sat on the sand and looked at the flames.
âWhatâs up?â Tootsie asked.
âI ended up wandering across some ruins,â Ruby replied. âApparently the Crystal Empire is now in the middle of this desert.â
âDamn. And I almost started to like this place.â Tootsie stood up and groaned, seeing that her tail was full of sand. âIs it the future or the past?â
Dinky raised her eyebrows. Itâd been a few weeks since she became aware of the fact that her life was constantly switching between various places, scenarios, even family members; but so far, she avoided long travels in time and space. The only âplaceâ as they called it, that was outlandishly out of her usual timeline was about fifteen years before when she, Tootsie, and Ruby somehow became Twilight Sparkleâs classmates in the Magic Kindergarten.
âIâm guessing future,â Ruby said. âIâve seen a rat the size of a cow.â
âIt couldnât be a cow, such creatures donât exist,â Tootsie muttered.
âMaybe in this place.â Dinky scratched her mane. âThe sooner we leave it, the better. Iâd like to go back to the time when Ponyville exists.â
Tootsie smiled, looking into the fire. âWhen exactly? Itâs quite a broad definitionâŠâ
âWellâŠâ Dinky shrugged. âUmm⊠Our time, I guess?â
Ruby sighed. âI wish I ended up in my timeâŠâ
âWhat?â Dinky asked. âWe were there just yesterdayâŠâ
Ruby shook her head. âCorrection: we were in your time. Your and Tootsieâs.â She sighed. âIf by âyourâ time you mean the one you remember from before you noticed the changes, then my time would be one where I was one of the first students of Starswirl the Bearded.â
âWhat?â Dinky exclaimed. âBut he lived long time agoâŠâ
âAnd apparently so did I,â Ruby replied. âThose were more civilised times. I was just talking with Starswirl that the theory that everything is made of atoms is pure drivel and then I suddenly got pulled inside of the house by some uncultured hag because I wanted to take a look at the zebra. Then I learned that she was my mother and that the existence of atoms had been scientifically proven.â She shook her head and closed her eyes. âJust my luck.â
âThatâs bad.â Dinky nodded. âBut it explains your history grades. And at least you still end up in Starswirlâs era from time to time, right?â
âYeah, sometimes,â Ruby replied. âBut itâs not the same when you know that one day youâre there and then you can suddenly be someone else, somewhere elseâŠâ
âLike in the middle of the desert that was Crystal Empire.â Tootsie tapped her hoof against the ground. âAlso, itâs not that bad. You know whatâs worse?â
âWhat?â Dinky asked.
âOne day, there was a parade in Ponyville,â Tootsie said. âI saw some filly watching it from the balcony of her house. I went to her and asked her what her name was.â
Ruby furrowed her eyebrows. âAnd?â
âShe said she didnât have one.â Tootsie shrugged. âAnd she couldnât see anything wrong with that.â
Ruby shrugged. âWell, in Starswirlâs times, I felt like that after every of his parties. Somehow, those didnât make it to the history books.â
âThatâs not the worst part,â Tootsie said, blushing slightly. âOn the next day, I went to that house and it turned out no one knew this filly. She was, like, gone.â She shrugged. âEvery time we are in Ponyville I look for her, but sheâs never appeared again.â
âSo?â Ruby asked.
Tootsie sighed. âShe existed and now she doesnât. Think about it. This could happen to any of us.â She looked at Ruby and Dinky, her eyes wide. âIn fact, it can still happen.â
Dinky trembled. âThanks. Now I wonât sleep tonight. Or ever.â
âNonsense!â Ruby exclaimed. âThere are probably plenty of places where we donât exist. Same with that filly. We just donât visit that particular universe where she is.â
âHow can you say?â Tootsie asked. âAlso, if there are places where we donât exist, how come we never visit them?â
Ruby sighed. âWhich part of âwe donât exist thereâ you donât understand? If we donât exist in a particular place, we canât remember it, quod erat demonstrandum.â She smirked. âStarswirl the Bearded taught me logic. You canât beat me.â
âWell, he also taught me, though itâs not my native place.â Tootsie turned to Dinky. âDonât worry. If you hang out with us more, youâll catch up with his lessons too.â She looked back at Ruby. âAnd you demonstrandum nothing. The universes where we donât exist may not exist either, and thatâs why we donât remember them. Thereâs no way for you to disprove that theory, just like I have no way to disprove yours. I call it a draw.â
Dinky let out a loud groan. âEnough!â she yelled at Tootsie and Ruby. âLots of difficult words about nothing, and no answer!â She shuddered. âWe need to look for it, instead of talking.â
âNot much can be done here.â Ruby shrugged. âEquestria seems to not exist anymore.â
âYeahâŠâ Tootsie nodded. âBut Dinks has a point. Thatâs something worth devoting your life to. Finding where do little fillies go when they donât exist.â
âDo you think I didnât try?â Ruby asked. âStarswirl and Celestia didnât know why some ponies seem to keep changing places, universes, whatever you call it. And why, with some exceptions, they donât seem to notice that. I read every book I could find in any place I visited, but there was no answer. One life is not enough to find it.â
âRemember that we have a few of them to spare.â Tootsie looked at herself. âThatâs kinda annoying, by the way. We still look like weâre twelve, but we probably lived longer and learned more than any pony could. Also, with a few ridiculous deaths on top of that.â
Dinky trembled. âWhat? You can die in some universes?â
âYeah.â Tootsieâs face paled, though she tried to keep her voice casual. âIn Rubyâs âcivilisedâ times, no less. Turns out, twelve is a good age to end up in a battle between House Blueblood and House Armor over a few acres of land. Also, an arrow in the guts isnât good news, especially when antibiotics havenât been invented yet.â
âHow is it to die?â Dinky asked. âIâd hate to get stuck lying in the coffin in some universe, waiting to switch to another.â
âI wasnât lucky enough to get a coffin,â Tootsie said. âFirst I was trying to explain those two guys trying to throw me into the pit that I wasnât dead yet, and then I was in Sweet Apple Acres, taking a walk with Lyra and Bon Bon.â
âAlso, you died already,â Ruby said to Dinky. âYouâve said your baby sister dropped a couch on you. Do you think you survived that?â She shrugged. âIn our case, death is an instant trip to another place.â
âWhat if itâs the case with all ponies?â Tootsie asked. âThey just donât know it happens, just like they donât know why their families, occupation, cutie marks, and other stuff keeps changing.â
âMaybe,â Ruby said. âBut I still donât know how do you want to find out whatâs going on. Are you going to travel across whatever universes weâre randomly thrown into, hoping that one day youâll find somepony responsible for that, so you can ask them whatâs going on?â
âThatâs the only way to do it,â Tootsie said. âWe have time. All of it, I guess. We need to look for patterns, similarities⊠Like that we all look similar, except for the coloursâŠâ
âNo, thatâs because my mom gives us all manecuts, and she only knows one,â Dinky said.
A half-smile creeped on Rubyâs lips. âDo you think her trademark manecut causes that? Also, I think itâs all a waste of time.â
âItâs as good a way of wasting time as any other,â Tootsie said. âEspecially if we spend it sitting in a place like this one.â
Dinky gave the campfire a long, stern look. âWell, thereâs a way to leave itâŠâ
In a flash, Ruby rushed to Dinkyâs side and grabbed her hoof. âWait! Jumping into the fire is not the best idea. I mean, back in Starswirl times, burning at the stake was a common, umm⊠form of entertainment.â
âCivilised times, huh?â Tootsie muttered under her breath.
âShut up, Toots,â Ruby said. âI mean, it takes long and stuff. And this wood is definitely too wet.â She shrugged. âI mean, suicide as a form of switching to another time and place is sometimes quite handy, but this will hurt more than a couch dropped on your head.â
âYeah, and what do you have against this particular place?â Tootsie asked. âGranted, itâs not like that one time when first I was at school with Amethyst Star and then she was an adult, making me peanut butter sandwiches, but itâs not that bad. I mean, itâs warm, no one wants anything from us, there are apparently some cool ruins nearbyâŠâ
âYeah, remember the Crystal Castle?â Ruby asked. âItâs still standing, but the Crystal Heart is gone, and thereâs a skeleton of an alicorn hanging from the ceiling.â
Dinky winced. âAlicorn? Is it Cadance?â
Ruby shrugged. âIf weâre far enough into the future, it could be Flurry Heart.â For a moment, she was staring into the flames. âWouldnât hurt to check. Those are very nice ruins.â
Dinky turned to Tootsie. âDoes it happen to everyone?â
âWhat?â Tootsie asked.
âGoing crazy from all that universe switching.â
âNah, thatâs Ruby being Ruby,â Tootsie replied, standing up. âBut to think about it, now I want to see those ruins too.â
Dinky groaned. âOkay, Iâm going with you. There has to be someone whoâs not crazy in every company.â
âYou just wanted to jump into the fire,â Ruby muttered. âThatâs surely a sign of sanity.â
They walked across the desert. As soon as they left the campfire, cold air and darkness engulfed them, freezing them to the bone. Dinky lit her horn, trying not to think whatâd happen if she got separated from her friends.
A few seconds later a giant moth flew in front of her face. She screamed, backpedalling, but at the same time Ruby turned her head, firing a magic bolt at the moth which exploded into green goo.
âEwwâŠâ Dinky muttered, wiping her face.
âYou couldâve just scare it off or something,â Tootsie muttered.
âWhat if it was a mind-eating parasprite?â Ruby asked. âThose things are no joke.â
âDinky was right,â Tootsie said. âYouâre bonkers.â
âMaybe.â Ruby walked to something that looked like a large block of crystal, half-buried in the sand and kicked it. âSeems that weâre in the town. Have a nice sightseeing and remember not to get lost. Thanks for choosing holiday with Ruby Travel.â
Crystal Empire was indeed hardly a shadow of its former glory. Most of the roofs collapsed; Dinky saw that the street was littered with shards of crystals and small bones. One of the buildings was torn from its foundation, as if some giant kicked it across the square.
Tootsie aimed her horn at the door of one of the houses, basking its interior in the light of her magic. âCompletely empty,â she said. âAs if everyone ran away, taking everything with them. There should be some scattered pieces, heavy furniture, or something there, but thereâs nothing.â She walked closer and winced. âThough this whole place reeksâŠâ
âLetâs hope itâs an alternative timeline and not whatâs actually happens,â Ruby muttered.
âIs that possible?â Dinky asked.
âOf course it is,â Ruby replied. âIn fact, every single timeline is alternative and they rarely form longer continuities. Like, you have a different family in each of them, right?â
Dinky nodded and looked forward, at the main square. Something about it was not right; it took Dinky a while before she realised what it was. While the rest of the Empire was completely dark, the ruins of the castle seemed to glow. It wasnât a reflection of their magic; they were too far away. It wasnât the crystals the castle was built from, either. The light seemed to come from the inside of it.
Dinky trotted across the square. She heard her friends calling her; from the sound of their hoofsteps, she guessed that they followed her.
She skid to a halt by the entrance of the castle. Just like Ruby had mentioned, there was a skeleton of an alicorn there, suspended from the ceiling by a golden chain around its neck. However, it wasnât the weirdest thing Dinky saw there.
There was another alicorn mare standing in the middle of the castle, in the place where the Crystal Heart used to be. She must have been old. Her skin and mane were dried and bleached by the sun; her bones could be seen under it, and for a moment Dinky thought that the alicorn was a mummy. But then, she took a few steps towards Dinky, narrowing her milk-white eyes and cracking a toothless smile.
âWhoaâŠâ Tootsie muttered, standing by Dinkyâs side. âIs thatâŠâ
âPrincess Flurry Heart.â Ruby took a step forward and bowed. âWhat?â she asked, turning to Tootsie and Dinky. âThis is weird, but sheâs still a princess, right?â
âA princess?â Flurry Heartâs voice chilled them to the bone; it sounded like someone was scratching a knife against a pane of glass. âCan a princess still be a princess when the kingdomâs gone?â
âCryptic conversation?â Ruby asked. âThis particular universe keeps surprising me.â
âYouâre the Awoken!â Flurry Heart exclaimed, trying to approach them. She tripped and spread her wings to regain balance; featherless and almost devoid of muscles, they looked pathetic.
âWell, weâre quite awakeâŠâ Dinky said. âBut we donât know what you mean, princessâŠâ
âYou know.â Flurry Heart sat down, taking a deep, laborious breath. âYou used to change with the universe, but now it changes around you⊠Just like it happened to meâŠâ
âDo you know why it happens?â Ruby asked, inching closer to Flurry Heart.
âYes,â Flurry Heart replied. A long fit of coughing nearly caused her to collapse; her hooves twitched. âF-find⊠myâŠâ
In a blink, the world around them changed. The night turned to day; as far as they could tell, they were still in the Crystal Empire, but now it was shiny and full of ponies gathered on the main square. Princess Flurry Heart was gone. Instead, Dinky, Ruby, and Tootsie found themselves standing next to the Crystal Heart.
Dinky looked around and saw Crackle Pop, who was her brother in some of the universes sheâd visited. He was wearing a t-shirt with âThe 1st Anniversary of The Crystalling of Princess Flurry Heartâ and the date printed on it. When she looked at herself, she noticed that she was wearing a t-shirt in similar colour, which read âI was in Crystal Empire and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.â
Ruby groaned and cursed, causing a few ponies to look at her in disgust. âWe were so close, and it had to change nowâŠâ
âNo matter how often this happens, I still hate it,â Dinky muttered, sitting on the floor next to the Crystal Heart.
Tootsie Flute, who seemed busy watching her hooves, raised her head and shrugged. âWhat happened?â