Chapter 1
“Train to Phillydelphia… stopped halfway… wait, what? That doesn’t make any sense– Ugh!”
Twilight slapped the scroll down onto her desk and slumped back in her chair. She had read the report a dozen times already, yet it made just as little sense as it had the first time. She glanced over at the growing stack of scrolls and notes in the oval shaped, felt-lined wicker basket that served as her Inbox.
A slight knock on the door broke her brooding for a moment. “Yes, come in.”
The door opened with a slight creak and a light-teal unicorn mare slipped into the study.
“Please tell me you have good news, Ink Drop.”
She offered a modest bow, despite the new monarch’s preference that such formalities need not be observed in private. “Your majesty.” Ink Drop brushed a lock of her garnet red mane behind her ear as she rose and approached Twilight’s desk.
“In a sense, yes. Neither I nor the Captain of the Guard have received any reports of serious injuries or otherwise catastrophic events as a result of the current… difficulties.”
“‘Difficulties’ is putting it mildly,” Twilight huffed, rapping her hoof on the edge of the solid wood desk for a moment.
“Shall I give you the latest updates now, Princess?” Ink Drop magicked a trio of scrolls out of her saddle bags. “Or put them with the others?”
“Just–” Twilight glanced at the mess of papers strewn across the desk and sighed “–actually, go ahead. Staring at these other ones isn’t doing me any good right now anyway.”
“As you wish.” Ink Drop unrolled the first scroll and cleared her throat. “A report from Commander Silver Shield, who is leading a team in Neigh Orleans, as you know.” Twilight nodded for her seneschal to continue.
“Commander Shield reports that calendars in homes and businesses across the city appear just as yours has, with only blank pages after this month of October. So far no discernable patterns have emerged among those affected. Also, Donut Joe has had to close his cafe there for the time being, due to total equipment failure.”
“Joe’s?” Twilight gasped. “He just opened up down there a few months back too. I was there to cut the ribbon even!”
“Indeed,” Ink Drop replied. “According to this, he said that he arrived for work yesterday and found none of the equipment would work. No obvious mechanical or magical fault could be found either. They just stopped.”
Twilight shuddered as much at the news that her defective calendar was no fluke as she did at the prospect of no more chocolate frosted donuts with sprinkles.
“Shall I continue?” Ink Drop paused, and seeing no objection from the princess, switched to the second scroll in her aura.
“This second report comes from Ponyville, specifically Captain Gallus.” Twilight sat up a little straighter in her chair at the mention of her former, longtime home.
“Gallus reports that here too, some infrastructure has stopped working, including street lights and the town’s clock tower. The local spur line for the train is also out of service. Track controls are frozen.”
“Ponyfeathers,” Twilight muttered as she scribbled in the margins of a scroll. “Anything else from Gallus?”
“Yes, your Majesty. Gallus’s unit made contact with Miss Glimmer and Miss Lulamoon, and they reported that the school has seen relatively minor disruptions, but all students are safe and accounted for.”
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as Ink continued. “Also, the local hospital has seen a sudden spike in cases of ponies suffering from what Nurse Redheart described as sudden onset amnesia. Names, addresses, even special talents. All forgotten. Despite the troubles, Gallus reports that Mayor Mare seems to have things well in-hoof for the moment, though she is understandably worried.”
“Even Meadow has her limits though. She’s just one pony.”
“Meadow?” Ink asked, eyebrow raised.
“That’s the mayor’s name. She hardly uses it anymore since she became mayor all those years ago.” Twilight allowed herself a small smile. “Only reason I know it is because Celestia had me study up on the profiles of every county and local official before my coronation. But you didn’t hear that from me, alright?”
“Hear what, Princess?”
Twilight held Ink Drop’s gaze for a few moments before the latter broke into a small smile of her own. Twilight chuckled and shook her head.
“Now I see why Celestia valued your assistance so highly. Thank you, Ink.”
Ink smiled and dipped her head a bit. “I am honored, Princess. Thank you.” She paused and unrolled the final scroll that she had brought with her. “May I move to the final report?”
“Yes, please.”
“The final report is from Commander Lance, who is leading a team in Manehattan. The commander reports that the public is still generally calm, and panic has not set in–” she paused a breath “–yet.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed in worry, but she motioned for her to continue.
“Two of the underground train lines have already shut down, and more appear to suffering unexplained malfunctions every day. Also, some of the famous billboards and lighted signs along Starswirl Square have begun to act quite strangely.”
“In what way?” Twilight asked.
Ink Drop read ahead a few lines and had to suppress a shiver of her own before speaking. “The commander stated, and I quote, “some signs have gone black, but others are acting spastic, as if posessed somehow. One minute they look fine, the next they’re showing nothing but a series of solid color bars; others a grey backdrop covered in white dots.’”
Twilight kept one ear turned toward Ink Drop as she finished scribbling some notes onto a fresh sheet of parchment. Her magic quickly shifted through the scattered papers and scrolls on her desk until she found a specific one, which she held up side-by-side with the fresh sheet. “That’s eerily similar to what we’ve heard from Las Pegasus. The signs up and down the famous Strip are malfunctioning in much the same way.”
She kept hold of the scrolls as she stepped out from behind the desk and began moving toward a large free-standing cork board that was already half-covered in papers, diagrams, and bits of red string. “It’s not much, but it’s the best lead we have so far.”
Just then a small burst of bright yellow magic appeared in the air and a scroll poofed into existence. It floated in the air for a second before plopping down onto the desk. Twilight recognized the green seal immediately. “Spike!”
She returned to the desk and quickly unrolled the scroll to read it. “Meet us in the throne room in ten minutes. Signed–” she swallowed a lump in her throat “–Celestia and Luna?”
Twilight began hurriedly shuffling the stacks of scrolls and reports on her desk, while a burst of magic began grabbing some of the items from the corkboard. “They’re coming here? In ten minutes? What do I tell them, Ink?”
Ink Drop was unfazed by the whirlwind of paper flying around her. “Everything we do know at this point, your Highness.”
“Which is barely anything! They retire for less than two weeks and everything’s gone to Tartarus!” Twilight glanced at the grandmare clock across the room, noting she had barely seven minutes left.
“Well, let’s go then, Ink. I’ll walk this time instead of teleporting. I could use every second I can get to try and come up with some kind of a report for the princesses.” Twilight was steps away from the door when it flew open without warning, and a pink blur screeched to a halt in front of her.
“Pinkie!”
“Yepyep yeppers!” Pinkie pronked in a circle around Twilight while the other element bearers entered the room, along with Spike.
Twilight was equally surprised and relieved. “Girls! Spike!” she quickly pulled them all in for a hug. “Heavens am I glad to see you! But how did you know to come here now?”
“Oh that was easy!” Pinkie shimmied out from the group hug and spun around to face the group. “I got a Grade Two twitch in my tail, plus a shake in both front hooves at the same time, so I knew you needed some help with a report! And reports are always easier when they’re group projects!”
“Well,” Rainbow added before leaning out of the group hug as well. “The fleet of broken down trains and utterly lost ponies at the train station was a pretty big hint too, Pinks.”
“Yeah! Those too,” she chirped in reply.
Ink Drop cleared her throat loud enough to draw the room’s attention. “I, um, hate to break up the moment, but the Princess does need to get going. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are due to arrive at any minute”
“Indeed she does, darling.” Rarity smiled and stepped to the side to give Twilight a clear path to the door. “Lead the way, Twilight. We’ll fill in dear Ink Drop along the way.”
Twilight led the group through a short series of warmly lit hallways that served as a shortcut from her office to the throne room. She had walked this path countless times in her life, first as a student, then as a princess in her own right. But she had never walked it as the ruler of Equestria, now facing the first crisis of her young reign. Her eyes glanced back and forth at the statues of famous and important Equestrians that lined the hallway. Never had they looked as imposing as they did in that moment. Twilight could half-hear the chatter behind her as Rarity, Applejack, and the others relayed their observations to Ink Drop. But her focus was on the imminent arrival of her predecessors.
They exited the hallway through a simple door that opened out to the side of the throne room, just behind the raised dais upon which the throne sat. Bypassing it entirely, Twilight led her friends instead to the front of the throne room, where they waited near the first rows of chairs normally reserved for court officials and dignitaries. They waited a scant few minutes before the throne room’s grand doors opened, and a pair of Royal Guards led Princesses Celestia and Luna in.
The former diarchs walked down the main aisle, then stopped and bowed as they approached Twilight. “Princess Twilight.”
“H-Hey! My ‘no bowing’ rule goes double for you two.” Twilight’s face flushed in embarrassment.
Celestia and Luna wore matching grins as they stood up. “Sorry, dear Twilight,” Luna chuckled. “But I always wondered what it’d be like on the other side of the dais, so to speak.”
Even Ink Drop couldn’t keep from laughing along with the others. Twilight could only shake her head and blow a raspberry in Luna’s direction. The brief moment of levity helped to buoy Twilight’s spirits a bit, but the weight of the situation quickly made its presence felt again.
“Anyway, I suppose I don’t need to ask why you’re here so suddenly.”
“I had a feeling something was off when I was unable to forecast the layout of the night sky past the end of the month,” Celestia replied. “I asked Luna to look at things, but she couldn’t see anything either, even through the dreamscape. That’s when we knew for sure that something was amiss.”
“The conductor stopping the train an hour out of Silver Shoals because he suddenly forgot how to run it, or even why he was on a train to begin with, didn’t help,” Luna added. “Otherwise, we’d have been here even sooner.”
“Horseapples,” Twilight muttered. “That’s every major line in the kingdom down, plus half the spurs too.” She extended her wings enough to rub at her temples. “What nex—”
“Don’t say that!” Rainbow shouted. “Even I know that never ends well now.”
A loud knock on the throne room door startled the group.
Rainbow gulped. “Oh no.”
“Oh come on!” Twilight threw her front hooves in the air. “I didn’t even mean it this time!”
The huge doors slowly parted, moving silently on their hinges despite their weight, and a single pony stepped into the throne room. This new pony was a bit taller than the average pegasus, with a fit but not overly athletic build beneath a dark, almost charcoal grey coat. Bright cobalt blue eyes matched the single stripe of color that cut through his black mane and tail.
“Um… M-May I come in?”
Twilight just stared at the new arrival for a few seconds, as did everypony else present. The pegasus shrunk back at all of the sets of eyes focused on him.
“I, um– I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude. T-There was nopony at the front gate, but the door was open, so I kind of let myself in.” He took a tentative step forward, then stopped again, his ears folded back against his head. “I apologize if I broke some kind of rule or protocol or something.”
Twilight’s mental gears finally unjammed and she fell back into princess mode. “Nonono, it’s okay! I promise. Please, do come in.”
The new guest came forward at a trot, his eyes drifting between the group in front of him and the throne room itself. He stopped a respectable distance from Twilight and the others and looked at each of the princesses before somewhat jerkily lowering into a bow.
“Your majesties. Thank you for seeing me.”
“It’s no trouble, really,” Twilight replied. She paused to adjust her crown, which she had begrudgingly begun to wear much more often after receiving the throne from the other princesses. Her brow furrowed when she looked back and saw the new arrival was still trying to hold himself in a bowing posture. “You can stand up, by the way.”
The gray pegasus shot up to a standing position a bit too quickly, and only by flailing his wings out did he keep from losing his balance. “O-Oh gosh, I’m sorry! I, um, I guess I was lost in the moment. Er, I mean, lost in the moment, Princess!”
“That’s quite alright, mister…”
“Slipstream,” he replied, trying his best to project renewed confidence. “I-It’s an honor to meet you, your Majesty.”
“Well, Slipstream, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well, and welcome to the castle!” Twilight beamed, thankful for a moment on familiar mental turf. “I must apologize for the lack of staff to greet you. Things are in a bit of transition right now, as you might imagine.”
“That’s fine, Princess. Really.”
“Please, just call me Twilight. Day Court’s not in session today anyway.”
“Told you you were always more formal than necessary,” Luna muttered, earning her a poke in the side from her sister.
Twilight looked over and blew a razzberry at the both of them.
“Speaking of formalities, allow me to make some introductions—” she turned and stood next to Slipstream, and pointed out her friends one by one. “And finally, my mentors and predecessors to the throne, Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Now, everypony, allow me to introduce Slipstream.”
Slipstream had barely begun to lift a hoof in greeting when he was caught in a vice-like hug from Pinkie Pie, who had suddenly appeared behind him.
"Hi, Slipstream! I'm Pinkie Pie! Wow that's a really cool name! Like cool enough to be a Wonderbolt name! Have you heard of the Wonderbolts? Dashie is a Wonderbolt too and it is so cool you have to see a show! Oh! But first I need to know what kind of cake you like because I've never seen you before and if I've never seen you before then you must be new here which means I need to throw you a party and— Mmph!"
A swirl of magic clamped around her muzzle before gently prying her off of Slipstream. "Slow it down there, Pinkie," Twilight said, trying her best to stifle a bit of laughter at the same time. "You can throw a welcome party after we find out what our guest here needs.”
Satisfied Pinkie would stay calm for a moment, Twilight refocused her attention on their new guest. "Sorry about that, Slipstream. Pinkie gets just a little excited about new visitors to town. Or for anything, really.”
“No offense taken, Princess,” Slipstream replied, giving Pinkie a small nod as well. “I would expect nothing less from Equestria’s top party pony.”
“My reputation does travel far and wide,” Pinkie answered as she pulled a number of trophies and “Best Party Planner” certificates from her mane for all to see.
“In a way, I’m pretty familiar with all of you,” Slipstream continued. Your adventures and exploits are the stuff of legend where I come from.”
“And where is home for you?” Fluttershy asked.
“Seaddle. Just… not the Seaddle you all know.”
"So you're from the mirror world then?" Rainbow piped up. "Awesome! What high school did you go to? CHS? Crystal Prep?"
"Neither, I’m afraid.” Slipstream fidgeted in place. “You see, I’m not from the mirror world either.”
Applejack shot a hoof into the air. "So, you’re not from Equestria or the mirror world? Pardon the bluntness, but where are ya from then?"
"I'll explain everything," Slipstream answered with a sheepish grin. "In fact, the why and how of my presence here has a lot to do with the other issues you’re experiencing right now. But I have to warn you, it might all sound a bit crazy at first."
Rarity laughed out loud and waved a hoof in the air. "Darling, crazy is almost our middle names at this point. Whatever your tale is, I'm sure we can handle it."
“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I-Is she going to be okay?” Slipstream looked on with terror in his eyes as Twilight waved a wing over Rarity’s prone body. Applejack brushed past him with a hurried apology, but he barely noticed. His eyes were focused on the passed out unicorn in front of him.
“She’ll be alright, sugarcube,” Applejack said over her shoulder as she laid a damp cloth on Rarity’s forehead. “She just gets overly dramatic sometimes when big news hits. Ya should’ve seen her when she got the invitation to Princess Cadance’s wedding.”
Fluttershy stepped over and took Slipstream aside for a moment to help him calm down while Twilight and the others fretted over a now marginally awake Rarity. Finally, after some more wing fanning – and a vial of smelling salts that Pinkie yanked from her mane – Rarity slowly got back to her hooves and shuffled back over to her chair.
After letting some degree of calm return, Slipstream stood in front of the group once more. “Again, I’m very sorry, Rarity. I certainly did not mean for that–”
“It’s not your fault,” she replied, her voice still a bit weak. “Though in my defense, if what you just told us is indeed true, that really would be the worst possible thing.”
“If the tables were turned, I doubt my reaction would have been much different, honestly. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“As am I,” Celestia said, drawing the room’s attention. “But in her own way, Rarity makes a good point. The implications of what you’ve told us are… troubling to say the least.”
Celestia began to say more when Rainbow abruptly slipped to the front of the group and stood between her and Slipstream.
“And more than a little hard to believe,” she said, looking Slipstream square in the eye. “No offense here, Slip, but how do we know you’re not just making all of this up?” She glanced Twilight’s way for a moment. “Or that this isn’t a really twisted prank from Discord?”
The room stopped for a moment, with everypony hesitating to speak first until Fluttershy’s voice broke the pause. “I’m not sure about the rest of what Rainbow said, but I’m sure this doesn’t involve Discord. I sent him to check in on the Sanctuary and to see if Doctor Fauna needs any help. And, well–” Fluttershy tried in vain to hide a slight blush with her mane “–I don’t sense his presence anywhere. I’d know if he was here.”
“Wait, how can you– Oh…” Rarity’s momentary confusion quickly morphed into a wry smile. “Oh, we will have so much to talk about on our next spa trip, Fluttershy.”
Fluttershy only squeaked in response, though her deepening blush gave her away all the more.
“Fluttershy is right,” Luna said. “Discord’s work this is not. But Rainbow’s concern is valid.” She looked to Slipstream, then back to Twilight. “Our guest’s story is indeed troubling, but the years since my return have taught me not to discount anything as impossible either.”
“Look, I know how weird this all sounds. I get it, really.” Slipstream fidgeted in place. “Random pony shows up in the middle of a crisis with an explanation for said crisis, but it’s almost too insane to believe. I wouldn’t just take my word for it either, but that’s all I can offer you.”
Twilight sighed. “Well, there is one possible way to settle this, but we’d need to wait for Sunset to cross back over. And plus, I don’t know if her ability to read minds works over here anyway.”
“There is one alternative.”
Everypony looked to Luna. “A spell. One that I developed during my, well, during a darker time in my life.”
“Luna…” Celestia began but Luna waved her off.
“Let me finish, sister.” She cleared her throat. “As I was saying, since my return I have spent many hours re-tuning my old spell books for more practical and purposeful needs. On rare occasions I have need to gaze into the thoughts of a pony who is not actively in the dreamscape, but who is facing a severe mental crisis.
“That is not to suggest anything ill of our guest, mind you,” she nodded to Slipstream “only to say that while the current crisis is very real, this spell could well settle the question at hoof – is his story true?”
Twilight shuffled nervously. “I’m not sure about this, L—”
“Do it.”
Slipstream took a deep breath and fixed his eyes squarely on the two princesses. “This is too important. And besides, what is friendship without a good dose of trust?”
Luna and Twilight looked at each other for a moment, a silent conversation going on between them. Finally, Twilight nodded her head and Luna stepped over to Slipstream.
“I assure you that no harm will come to you,” she said, her tone and expression turning business-like. “Shall we begin?”
“Yes.”
Luna closed her eyes and her horn glowed a deep blue. A sphere of the same color appeared above Slipstream and quickly enveloped him. “Worry not, friend…” she stepped closer, her horn flaring and expanding the sphere to double its size. Luna steadied her aura and placed a hoof through the sphere itself. “This won’t take long.”
The entire room breathed a sigh of relief when the blue sphere dissipated about five minutes later, leaving Luna and Slipstream standing exactly where they had been before.
“Are you alright?” Twilight said as she rushed over and began circling them in earnest. “You look alright. How do you feel?”
“I-I’m fine,” Slipstream said, brushing his mane back with a hoof. “Really, there was nothing to it. It was just–” he spared Luna a glance “–a rush.”
“You did quite well,” Luna replied. “Thank you for trusting me as you did.” She looked out to the others gathered around, her forlorn eyes betraying her otherwise calm visage. “The answer to your question, Rainbow Dash, is yes. What Slipstream has told us is true.”
A mere pin drop could have shattered the silence that followed. Even Celestia and Luna, wise beyond their years, were stunned. Everypony just sat and stared at each other, unsure of what, if anything, to say or do next.
Finally, Twilight found her voice again. “Luna’s the only pony, the only creature I know who could tell a truth from a lie better than Applejack. If she says your story is true, then I have to accept it. Gods help me it hurts to say that, but what else can I do at this point?
“In a crazy way, it has to make sense. Right?” Twilight looked between the princesses and Slipstream. “Out of nowhere, Celestia and Luna decided to retire. Then all of our biggest enemies ally against us. We barely survive that, only to have the world come to a screeching, inexplicable halt a few weeks later. And just when we’re at the breaking point, a random pony appears with the answers to all of our troubles.”
“And what an answer it is!” Twilight lightly stomped. “The world feels like it’s shutting down because it is shutting down. Normally I’d say that’s impossible, what with the avatars of the sun and the moon standing mere feet away from us. But that matters none when the world as we know it is but a simulation, right? Me, my friends, the princesses, even Equestria itself.”
She pointed at Slipstream. “It’s a fake! We’re just figments of the imagination of whatever world he comes from; one that’s apparently very similar to Sunset’s but also very different. No sentient animals, and not even a drop of magic. In his world,” she jabbed her hoof again in his direction “we’re just a thing called a cartoon. Conjured out of nothing and sold to the masses purely for their entertainment.”
The weight of the princess’s words were like anchors on Slipstream’s mind. But that was nothing next to the mix of confusion, anguish, and raw grief he saw in her eyes. He told himself that he was looking past Twilight because it was impolite to stare at royalty, not because the gravity of the moment was ripping at his heart too.
She stepped closer to her friends, then turned back to face Slipstream, who tensed up under her gaze. “Every fiber of my being wants to reject this as horseapples, but I can’t. Not now. And yet, that’s not what bothers me the most. Maybe we are cartoons, and maybe we do live in a massive simulation. But beyond all that, there’s one thing I want to know more than anything.”
“Why?”
Slipstream stared in silence for a moment. “Why? I… um…”
“Why?” Twilight repeated. “Why Chrysalis? Or Sombra? Or Cozy? Why the attacks, the near war, the near re-enslavement of the Crystal Empire? Why any of it?”
“I’m n-n-not–” Slipstream stuttered. “I didn’t do those things, I swear!”
“I know you personally didn’t do those things,” Twilight replied curtly. “But someone in your world did. Or maybe it was a team of humans working together. That ‘show staff’ you mentioned; maybe they did it instead.
“But that still doesn’t answer why,” Twilight continued. “Why put us through all of those battles, hmm?” Rainbow and Applejack nodded in agreement.
“Why let Trixie summon an Ursa Major and nearly flatten Ponyville? Why turn Starlight to evil and steal cutie marks? Why kill Applejack’s parents before she could really know them? Or keep Scootaloo from flying?” Twilight’s voice was straining a bit more with each point, and each one was hitting Slipstream like hammer blows.
She stared straight at Slipstream, not with malice but with a look that pleaded for an answer.. “And why… why destroy the Golden Oaks?”
“Twilight…” Celestia stepped in and laid a wing across the smaller alicorn’s withers. “I know it hurts. You and your friends have suffered mightily over the years, despite your success. But you said it yourself – Slipstream’s not at fault.” She pulled Twilight into a winghug, and her voice took on a motherly tone. “I know you have questions, and I share them. But accusing him won’t get us any closer to a solution.”
“It’s okay, Princess.” he replied. “If I were in her shoes, I’d be asking the same things.”
He stepped a bit closer to Twilight and sat down on his haunches. “Yes, people in my world created all of those villains, and the fights and the wars and the tragic events. But those same people also gave you the means to beat all of those villains, and win all of those battles. Those are also the same people who But please believe me when I say that they didn’t do it just to make you all suffer, or as some kind of punishment.”
“If not that,” Applejack gave him a doubtful look, “then why did they do it then?”
“Because the world I come from is far more different than Equestria than you realize, and not just because we don’t have actual magic or flying ponies. For you all, friendship and harmony are a way of life, the natural order of things. But for us they’re increasingly the departure from the norm. As I stand here, there’s an entire generation of humans who from the day they were born have lived under a declared state of war in their homelands.
Slipstream continued, trying to keep his voice level. “While I’m sure not every pony is as wealthy as Fancy Pants or as famous as Coloratura, real need is all but unheard of here. No creature goes without food to eat, a place to lay their head, and thanks to your wonderful work, at least one friend to help them when things get rough. That’s absolutely not the case where I come from.”
Fluttershy gasped. “I-It’s not?” She looked utterly horrified at the mere thought.
“Sadly, no. People fall through the cracks of our society every day; some by choice, others by mere circumstance. A lost job, a home lost to natural disasters, scars from the battlefield, expensive medical care… the list goes on. And once these folks slip through the thin safety net that society provides, it can be all but impossible to get them back.”
Pinkie’s hair made a sound like a deflating balloon as she recoiled from Slipstream’s words. “That’s just horrible! How can you live like that?”
Slipstream sighed and looked at them all, barely resisting the urge to cry a bit himself. “It’s tough. Very tough at times. But that’s why we create worlds like Equestria. To give ourselves an escape. A chance to tune out the chaos and discord – no pun intended – around us, if only for a half-hour at a time.”
“That does sound right awful,” Applejack said. “But why would y’all put us through the same kinda thing that your tryin’ to escape from? No offense to present company…” she gestured to the others “...but wouldn’t you want all sunshine and rainbows instead?”
“The difference is,” Slipstream replied “in my world, the good guys don’t always win. Sometimes they lose, often times to disastrous consequences as a result. Sometimes the evil can’t be stopped, or the hungry fed, or the injustice righted. But here, in this world, the good guys–” he pointed to them one by one “–and the good girls, they always win.
“Don’t you see?” he asked. “You beat every villain. You solved every problem. Right always triumphed over wrong, even if it had to make a comeback to do it. That’s because the people who created all of this wrote it that way. You kept winning because they wanted you to win. You kept overcoming adversities, heartaches, and even tragedies because they wanted you to. And they wanted you to because that was the escape that they were creating - for themselves and for all of us fans. That ideal world that we all long for in our hearts and imaginations.”
“To put it another way…” Slipstream stood now, his voice a bit stronger than before. “Equestria is the world we wish ours to be. And each of you represent what we want each other as humans to be.” He stepped toward each one of them in turn, first to Pinkie Pie.
“To laugh more, and find the joy in everything.”
To Applejack. “To be honest, to ourselves and to one another, and stop using lies as a form of currency.”
To Fluttershy. “To do as you have said so often, Fluttershy – to show kindness to every creature; without exception.”
Then Rainbow Dash. “To be loyal to those we care about, to those we love. And to not abandon those in need when times get rough.”
To Rarity. “To be generous of heart and treasure, and give without reservation or expectation, and perhaps even more importantly, bring out the beauty in everything and everyone. Fashionably of course,” he added with a grin.
Twilight was next. “To embrace friendship not as a vehicle to good times and good memories, but as a tenant of life itself. To make it the guiding principle upon which humanity is based.”
And finally, to Luna and Celestia. “To lead wisely, and gently, and with a heart full of empathy and love for those that are led, instead of ambition and fear.”
Slipstream hovered back a bit and turned to face the group again. “Yes, Equestria is a figment of our imaginations. But it’s also a reflection of the world we wished we lived in, and the type of people we wish we were. Heck, I’d be lying if I didn’t count myself among the pretty large group of people who, given the chance, would seriously consider transporting ourselves here permanently.”
Luna smiled warmly. “Kind words indeed, my friend. I think I speak for us all when I say it is heartening to hear that we are a kind of role model for you and your friends. But this all makes me wonder, however.”
“Your Highness?”
“Earlier, you said that in your world, Equestria came to an ending point some weeks ago. That you had reached the last… I believe you called it an episode. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“So,” Luna continued “given everything that you just said about Equestria being a kind of escape for your people, and all of us reflections of who you wish you could be, then why stop? If we exist in your minds, so to speak, why stop dreaming?”
“Believe me, Princess, I wish they could. We all do.” Slipstream gestured with a wing. “It’s… a complicated thing, my world. Books, cartoons, movies… they can be loved by millions and millions of people around the world and still reach a final endpoint. Sometimes it’s due to money, or a studio boss’s obsession with television ratings. But in your case, it’s simply that the people who created the story and its characters have told all the tales that they wanted to tell. The characters, meaning all of you, have achieved all of the goals that were set out for them.”
“Ran out of stories?” Rainbow zoomed to the front of the group and landed in front of Slipstream, wings slightly flared. “C’mon, Slip! You can’t possibly believe that’s true. Look who you’re talking to here! Also, there’s no way in Equestria we’re out of goals!” She poked him in the chest with a hoof. “I mean, helloooo. Elements of Harmony here? Wonderbolt? Princesses? We may be a bit tired right now, but we’re just getting started.”
“Simmer down now, Dash,” Applejack said, rising from her seat on a nearby cushion. “No need to get in his face about it.”
Dash huffed, but stepped back after a moment, wings still twitching in agitation. “Alright, sorry. I know it’s not your fault, Slip. I just… well…”
Slipstream leaned over and gently threw a wing over Rainbow’s withers. “Hey, it’s alright. Feeling even a little bit helpless sucks, I know. Especially when you’re used to using brute force and speed to bust through obstacles. But here’s the thing, Rainbow. The professional artists and writers who created all of this may have moved on to other worlds, other universes, but that doesn’t mean the stories need to stop entirely.
“In fact,” he continued, “thanks to a nifty thing we call the internet, extra stories of your exploits have been living in parallel alongside you the entire time.”
“Interwhatnow?” Applejack asked.
“It exists in Sunset’s world too,” Twilight jumped in. “I’ll explain later. Let’s just say it’s an… interesting place.”
“Think of it as a really big library, planted right in the middle of the Everfree Forest,” Slipstream added with a chuckle. “It can get a bit unruly at times.”
“I’ll uh, take your word for it. Hehe.” Applejack replied.
“Anyway, you were saying about parallel stories?” Twilight said, drawing the conversation back on topic.
“Ah, yes.” Slipstream shuffled over a few steps to give them a bit more room. “Remember what I said about all of your fans getting together every week to watch an episode? They get together on the internet too, and they use it for far more than just chatting about you all. They create music, art, sculpture, toys, jewelry, clothing, and on and on.
Specific to stories, there are entire corners of the internet dedicated solely to creating and publishing stories featuring you all. Those writers, including myself, have been going strong since your Equestria was but a few months old to us.”
“Yet none of your work was ‘official’, to borrow your term?” Celestia chimed in. “Why was it not included?”
Slipstream inhaled sharply. “It’s, complicated. Well, not really, but it involves a lot of legal stuff, and copyrights, and lawyers, and none of us actually working for the studio producing the show, and yeah... Definitely a conversation for another time there. Suffice it to say, they call it ‘fanfiction’ for a reason.”
“Either way, what kind of stories are these?” Rainbow asked. “Are they epic adventures? Amazingly huge battles? Spooky thrillers?”
“All those and everything in between,” he answered. “If you can think of a genre or a subject matter, you can probably find at least one story about it out there. Sometimes we’ll send ourselves into Equestria as ponies or other creatures, much like I’m doing right now. Other times we’ll send one or many of you into our world instead. Heck, one of our most popular genres, what we call “slice of life”, merely looks at an average day in a pony’s life, be it for work or for fun.”
“Is that all to say that you and your friends will be taking the place of whoever created us originally?” Rarity asked.
“Yes and no,” Slipstream replied. “Even the most talented artists among us cannot ever replace the amazing professionals who gave this Equestria life. But we can fill the void they left behind with our own stories.”
“What will you write about then?” Twilight asked. “At least before, you could probably work off of whatever these show officials created, but now it’s just you and your friends.”
Slipstream thought for a moment before replying. “A far more talented writer than I once said that stories about ponies are stories about people. He was right about that too. It can be hard sometimes to express how we feel, or what we think, or how a real life experience has impacted us. Stories provide us a canvas upon which to express all of that; to send a message, prove a point, or give form to a dream.”
Just then the large clock standing adjacent to the door sounded off with ten crystalline gongs. “Ah, drat,” Slipstream sighed, turning to look at the clock. “It’s getting a bit late. I should probably get back.”
“How?” Twilight raised a hoof in the air. “The only Crystal Mirror is here in this castle, and I know it doesn’t have a link to your world.”
“Remember, Twilight, I wrote myself into Equestria. I can just as easily write myself out as soon as I step outside the castle,” he added with a wink.
“Wait a sec!” Rainbow shouted. “What about the chaos outside right now? What do we do about all of that?”
“That,” Slipstream said, “should resolve itself soon. Right now we, and especially all of you, are caught in a kind of a transition phase. With the official show writers gone, both the fans and Equestria itself have to adjust to what’s basically a new set of writers. But don’t worry, you’ll all be back in action pretty quickly.”
Farewells, hugs, and well-wishes were exchanged all around then. Slipstream was halfway to the throne room door when Celestia’s voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Slipstream. Before you go…”
He turned and faced her, seeing now that she was flanked by her sister and Twilight to either side, and the other element bearers spread out behind.
“Yes, Princess?”
“I believe I can speak for us all when I say that we believe you, and we trust in you and your friends to continue creating on our behalves. But whatever fate awaits us, I must know… Did I—” she gestured to Luna and then to the others “—did we do alright? Did we do something worth remembering?”
“Celestia…” Slipstream couldn’t help but choke on his voice a bit. “You absolutely did. Believe me when I say that you all made a huge difference in so many peoples’ lives, myself included. They took the spirit of the elements into their hearts, and it literally changed the way they see the world and the people around them.
“Their love for you is as real as the love they hold for the countless new friends that they have met along the way. Some of those friendships have turned into serious relationships and even marriages and families. The values you preached, first to Twilight and then to all of Equestria and beyond, have given many of my friends a renewed sense of hope and purpose.” He swallowed a lump in his chest and kept going before the emotions could come roaring back. “Like I said, now it’s up to us – the fans, the artists, and especially the writers – to keep Equestria moving. But as long as humanity has stories to tell about themselves, we’ll have stories to tell about all of you in turn.”
He paused in thought for a moment, then continued. “To borrow from another writer that I know, Equestria won’t end unless we fans let it end, and we have no intention of doing that. Believe me, we’ll keep this train going, even if we have to get out and push.”
A loud honking sound broke in as Pinkie yanked a box of tissues out of her mane and blew her nose. “Dawww, you guys are gonna make me cry! Alright, bring it in, everypony! This calls for one more Pinkie hug!”
Twilight and the others rushed forward and piled into a group hug, with Pinkie running up and jumping up to land in the middle of the pony pile. Even Celestia and Luna joined in, wrapping the group with their outstretched wings.
The hug finally broke up, and with a final wave, Slipstream retreated to the doorway.
“I hope we see you and your friends again soon,” Twilight called after him. “It sounds like we have quite a lot of adventures ahead of us.”
Slipstream smiled. “You can count on us. Always.” He began to turn the corner into the hallway when he turned back one more time. “Just one more thing,” he said. “You were right, Twilight.”
“About what?”
Slipstream smiled at the best friends he had ever known, tears brimming beneath his eyes.
“Friendship really is magic.”