The Dimensional Observatory
Many moons ago, the ponies of Equestria were just confined to one universe, Equestria Prime. Not many ponies knew of what was beyond the Imagisphere. However, that all changed when a pony named Surprise joined with the leader of the second generation Vortex Masters, Solaris. She said that she was able to see beyond the Imagisphere. This gave Solaris an idea. Being a master of construction, he created an altar where those worthy are able to see into other realities.
He called it, "The Dimensional Observatory."
EQUESTRIA, CELESTIAL SOLAR SYSTEM, YEAR 3 OF LUNA'S RETURN, PRESENT DAY
The sun was out in a gorgeous blue sky. All the birds were chirping and Rainbow Dash, as always, was flying around practicing to join the Wonderbolts. As she flew through the sky, Dr. Vohr T. Tex, a Halcandrean from another planet, was watching the Pegasus do her tricks. As he was laying down on that tree, he noticed something vibrating in his bag. Cautious, he opened it up and looked inside. The only thing fitting the criteria for a vibrating object was the book inside. He pulled it out and realized it was the Halcandria Hystoria, the Vortex Masters' book of prophecies.
He didn't have time to even think about opening it when it flew open by itself.
This was normal for him, considering the fact that the book has a mind of it's own. It opened to a page where it showed a picture of a gorge. Ghastly Gorge, to be exact. This is odd, he thought. Why would the book show me the location that my base is stationed? It then flew to another page, landing on a more precise location, the south side. He knew that something was down there if the book showed him this. He put it back into his shoulder bag and bid farewell to Dash, before making a run south to Ghastly Gorge.
He had reached the area where the book specified. Yep, the south side of the gorge. He inspected the area around the wall and found a strange keypad, similar to the one on the north side, where his base was located. In fact, it was the exact same model! He pulled the Hystoria back out and flipped through the pages of Halcandrean Tech. He found a page unlike any other. Instead of the Times New Roman print the rest of the book was in, this looked like it was written by someone else. Someone had obviously put something here for a big reason. The only question he had was, "who?" He looked at the page, reading as follows:
PUZZLE OF THE OBSERVATORY
"My Observatory was hidden many years ago in the land of Dream Valley. It has been hidden for thousands of years. To whomever possesses this ancient book, heed this. The Observatory's code is a riddle. If you can solve it, you may enter. It goes like this;
'When two beings are separated, one is dark and one is light. The one will take over, while the other takes flight. If you can guess who this light one is, then it'll open. But beware, the wrong one will then be broken.'
Good luck." -VMS.
"Strange," Tex said." I know I have seen those initials somewhere before. Perhaps in one of my notebooks?" He pulled an orange Notebook out of his bag and look through Initials. " Let's see, DJE, TS, RD......AHA! VMS! It stands for 'Vortex Master Solaris'. So that means....."
He inputted the number code of his family; 91068. Sure enough, the wall slid open like a door.
As he walked inside, he immediately was taken aback by the décor. The six columns holding up the ceiling in the corners, all connected with purple drapes. The giant chandelier made of Halcandrean Gold. And the altar in the centre that looks rather unstable.........
Wait, what was that last one again?
The altar seemed to blow up for a second, and Tex was immediately thrown back due to the blast. The chains wrapped around the altar shattered. A strange blue smoke appeared out of the padlock, stretching as if it was taking a long nap. It solidified into a creature that Tex recognized. His grandfather, Sol.
"TO THOU WHO HAS AWOKEN THE POWER OF THE VORTEX, I BID YOU WELCOME TO THE CHAMBER OF THE DIMENSIONAL OBSERVATORY." The voice was loud and booming, it didn't help that the walls looked like they were crumbling. "AND YOU MUST BE THE ONE WHO HAS AWOKEN THE POWER. YOUR NAME IS VOHR "TERRIA" TEX, IF I AM NOT MISTAKEN?"
"Ye-Yes, sir. That'd be me."
"Well then, it seems that the Royal Canterlot Voice isn't needed after all." said Sol. His voice immediately went back down to a level similar to Tex's. "I am most deeply sorry, Doctor."
"Well, no apologies are necessary. So, would you care to explain the motive of this altar?"
"Most certainly! A long time ago, when your father, Solaris, discovered Equestria, it was known as Dream Valley. A peaceful land where the ponies lived happily. Solaris was the protector, of course, along with 6 others; Twilight, Posey, Minty, Applejack, Firefly, and Surprise were ancestors of Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, AJ, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie respectively. I won't go into too much detail since I'm pretty sure you have heard this story before. Anyways, Surprise had an amazing ability, the ability to see into other realities, much like Pinkie's 4th wall breaking.
"She knew that Solaris was a Vortex Master and gave him an idea. Using his mastery of construction, he crafted an Altar where he and the others could view what was happening though the Vortex Network. Using this altar, you can see into other realities that others have created."
"So, this was made to viewing purposes?" Asked a perplexed Tex.
"Why, yes, my fine orange friend!"
I still cannot believe that Solaris had this hidden all this time! thought Tex. I mean, I know he traveled to Dream Valley for the final battle against Naga, but I never knew that he was able to mix his power with their magic! He had dealt with aliens coming from the skies to eat ponies' brains. He had dealt with Shadow Tex nearly bringing destruction to both Equestria and Earth. But this was on a whole other scale.
Sol then spoke up. "Every possible reality, every outcome that ever was. It's all yours, my friend. Where would you like to start?" Just then, a menu of many different realities came onto the screen behind the altar. "Take your pick."
Tex thought long and hard for his first choice, but came across a rather interesting story. "I'll try that one." he said, pointing to a story.
It was labeled; "Canterlot wedding, Bad Ending."
Author's Note
HOO-WEE! I had this idea in my head for 6 months, and now I get to bring it out! HALLALUJA!
The Dimensional Observatory
Chapter 1: Canterlot Wedding: Bad End
The wall of the cavern was shattered, revealing the lost Princess Cadence. Immediately, Twilight lunged at her, believing that she was the monster who sent her down here. Fortunately, the real Cadence was able to prove her identity by performing a like hoofshake that they shared since foalhood.
It was right then and there, that the Vortex was split.
THE DIMENSIONAL OBSERVATORY.
VIEWING 1, CANTERLOT WEDDING: BAD END
Dr. Tex was pacing across the floor of the Hangar, his base located at the North Side of Ghastly Gorge. He had made an interesting discovery, an observatory that was able to see into other realities. He called over a few friends from the EPF, asking them if they can join him in his studies.
Now here he was, pacing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, it seems like an eternity. He was so elated about the observatory that he just couldn't sit still. What is taking them so long?
After a few more minutes of pacing, he heard a large banging noise coming from the back room. It was the Gate. He went straight to it and opened the door. The gate was dialing the way to the Hangar. After all was said and done, a giant watery vortex appeared and spit out three bodies.
Professor Azie Rift was the first. His body the same type as Tex's, nearly Homo Sapien with unnatural purple hair. He wore a suit similar to Tex's, but green instead of red, and a white bowtie instead of a white necktie. He was followed by another similar looking fellow, Blitz Fyre. Again, he looked human, but had an abnormal red hairdo, blue suit, and no neckwear to speak of. The final person was Professor Ballard, Tex's old friend since he joined the force. This time an actual human (even though his body was altered to more of an anthro version of a blue Pegasus to keep his body from exploding in a magical fire, considering he wasn't Halcandrean like Tex, Azie, or Blitz), he was wearing his old white labcoat, with the holes on the back, for he knew that the transformation would happen once he stepped through that gate. He was carrying a Techbook for reasons none of the Halcandreans will ever understand (except maybe Tex, but barely). And he was wearing his Tech Headset for......scanning purposes?
Tex explained to the Trio that he had discovered an ancient room built by his father. As he led them to the South SIde, he explained how Solaris met the Elements' ancestors, and how one of them was able to see into other realities. How Solaris built the Observatory and the computer that looked like his grandfather.
Once they finally made it to the southern end of Ghastly Gorge, Tex inputted the code. The wall slid open as it did before. The four entered the Dimensional Observatory, taking in all the scenery. Tex didn't get a good look at the place before it was activated, but he could tell that this area was, indeed, as old as Tex himself. He took in the details he had missed just yesterday, how the room was painted a deep violet, most likely to match the Vortex. And he has a good look at the altar itself, looking like the Eye of Harmony (err....from the Paul McGann movie, not the Matt Smith episode). Once again, a blast of light came from the altar, but it didn't send the group back like it did with Tex before. The hologram of Sol emerged, looking quite friendlier than he looked yesterday.
"Well, greetings again, Tex." said the projection. "It appears that you have brought a few guests."
Tex responded, " Yes, these are a few of my friends for the EPF. My brother, Azie Rift....."
"Hello, sir. It's an honor to meet the legendary Sol."
"....my cousin, Blitz Fyre..."
"Howdy, Sol."
"...and, lastly, my old friend, Professor Ballard."
"A pleasure, I am A.K. Ballard, but everyone just calls me professor."
Sol was elated. "Greetings to you all. I am the conscience of the observatory, taking the form of Solaris's father, Sol. I am here to assist you with any questions about this observatory."
Tex smiled. "Alright, gang. Let's have a look at these Alternate Choices." The screen behind the altar once again was filled with many different outcomes. He chose the one he had decided before, "Canterlot Wedding: Bad End."
It showed a simple cave, no doubt being the caverns beneath Canterlot. And Twilight Sparkle was trapped in there, much like the actual incident. She was blasting at every crystal there was, until one of the walls shattered due to the blast. Twilight immediately trounced at the pony behind the wall, Cadence.
"Wait, wait, waitwaitwait! This was all in the file!" Ballard said. "If this is supposed to be different, I'm not seeing it."
Sol responded, "Well, it is procedure to show a bit of what happened before the Vortex splits."
"........wait, what?" asked Tex.
"Ahh, I should explain. When a choice is made, it splits the Vortex into two at the point where it is made." Sol flicked the screen to a video of the Vortex, from the view on the outside. It looked like a pipe. Then, the Vortex was split at a point saying "Canterlot Wedding: Part 2" One was the same size, another was smaller. "The larger Vortex is the decision made, where Twilight and Cadence head back to above ground, stop Chrysalis, and everyone lives, right? The Vortex for that path is larger, because it is has the most energy given to it by time. The smaller Vortex isn't as nourished as the other, because it is not the correct decision for the timeline."
Azie spoke up, "So, why isn't it correct for the timeline?"
"Because of Paradoxes, my friend. And no one likes those, am I right?"
"Well, you do have a point. Let's continue watching."
As Twilight was no longer convinced by Cadence's hoofshake, she started to pummel her into oblivion. The view shifted to above ground, where the magical shield looks to be thinner than normal. Then, it zooms in onto the shield, revealing tiny black dots all over it. The group recognized them as changelings. They are attempting to breach the shield and feed on the ponies of Canterlot. The screen then split into two views, one was before, with the shield and changelings and whatnot, the other was of Chrysalis (still in her disguise) and Shining Armor. It was shown that two golden rings were on their horns, proving that it was too late. He had married a monster. At that point, Chrysalis whispered a command to Shining Armor, most likely to lower the shield, as the other view came to full screen, and the shield being powered down, not shattering. The changeling army flew down to the city below, and started to feed on them, similar to Commander Holly, a wraith from the EPF who was similar to a vampire. Finally, the screen cut to the caverns again, revealing that Twilight had beaten Cadence into submission all that time. She didn't look well.
Then, the screen flickered off.
Sol then grimaced, "I think that's enough for today..." The room was a chorus of agreements. "Alright, I probably should've mentioned that these 'Alternate Realities' aren't always the prettiest. That was bad on my part."
"Yeargh, ya got that right. I can only imagine what comes afterwards." said a very disgusted Blitz.
Tex then said, "On second thought, maybe this wasn't a good idea. Picking a bad ending for a wedding with a parasite that is looking out to kill, and that she is married to the captain, and that they might have---" He didn't want to finish that thought. "The point is, we probably should be more careful about what we choose next time."
"AGREED" everyone said all at once.
Tex waved goodbye to the fellow agents back at the Gate. He then wondered what else could happen. Well, that Observatory made it possible. He was pretty sure that he would be back.
Author's Note
Alright, this chapter is finished. Now, if anyone is reading this, I could use some support. I have a few ideas in mind for the alternate realities, but I can't think of ALL of them. I could use some help. If you have an idea for alternate endings to other episodes, give me a comment. Also, please share this story so that others can also submit ideas, and this story can grow.