The silver box, about the same size of a small living room, sat silent in the middle of the chamber. Bright lights lit up the white walled room.
“No, it’s not actually a portal.” Twilight Sparkle nodded. “It’s more like a uh… um…” The purple egghead trailed off, a hoof hovering in the air before her, searching for an invisible answer.
“A teleportation matrix?” The purple princess blushed before her previous mentor.
Twilight shot straight up in her seat. “Yes!” Spike sighed from the sidelines.
“Here we go again…” The teenage drake muttered.
“It’s sort of like a teleportation matrix in the way that it covers an entire three dimensional space, in a way so that it is not constricted to the size of the frame built to house its time matrix! Unlike the Crystal Mirror, of course.”
“Very interesting.” Princess Celestia took another sip of her earl grey and set the cup down gently. “I’m very proud of you, Twilight. Though, I hope this time matrix has no intention of trying to disrupt the past.” Twilight held back a cringe and instead beamed up at Celestia.
“And that’s why I have sworn an oath to never touch time travel to the past ever again!”
Princess Celestia blinked, as did the seven other beings in the room save for Twilight.
“Come again sugarcube?” Twilight nodded and gestured to the silver box on the opposite side of the glass window, separating the testing chamber and the observation deck. Her next statement was simple.
“It just travels to the future and back.” She smiled back at the surprised room’s occupants. “No risk of breaking timelines at all!”
“But… um, Twilight?”
“Yes Fluttershy?”
“Didn’t you say that you wanted to experiment with travelling to the past?” Twilight gave a gentle smile to the yellow pegasus.
“Twenty years ago, I would have said yes, and even now, I would say yes. However, after studying time matrix theories for so long, I learned that travelling to the past has too many chances of paradoxes.” She shrugged. “It’s far more easier to use a distant memory retrieval spell to look into one’s past; it’s safer, more materially and magically efficient, and does not require the spellcaster to use alicorn levels of reserve magic.” The room sat silent for a time, as everyone took in this information.
“That’s quite mature of you, Twilight.” Twilight smiled and nodded in respect for the old sun goddess.
“Yep, i’ve learned a lot after realizing that combining books and field research can provide knowledge gain.” Twilight took a sip of her moolong tea as the room burst into laughter.
“Twilight!” The teenage dragon’s voice shook Twilight from her walk to the time machine’s door control panel. She turned around; Spike had his arms outstretched just within the room’s still open doorway.
They met somewhere in the middle of both of their paths, embracing each other without a moment’s hesitation.
“Don’t be gone for too long. I don’t know how long time travel can take for you, but…” Spike let out a morose chuckle as he continued to stroke Twilight’s mane. “Even after all these years, i’m still a baby dragon.” Twilight pushed away from the teenager, holding him by the sides as she looked up into his emerald irises.
“I promise i’ll be back soon, Spike.” She smiled and gave Spike another hug. “You’re a big strong dragon now, so stay happy for me, alright?” Spike nodded and smiled without a word.
“I love you, Twilight.”
“I love you too, Spike.”
They stayed in each other’s embrace for a time, before Spike hesitantly let go. Spike left back through the doorway, and gave Twilight another wave from the other side of the observation room’s glass; Twilight waved back.
Taking a deep breath, Twilight returned to the door control panel of the time machine, and stepped inside. She took a seat and strapped in. With a burst of magic, the time matrix housed in the silver box's center column came to life, bringing with it an ominous hum.
Today marked a new age of pony history.
Tomorrow, Twilight didn’t really know what to expect.
Hooves were quite not the first thing Twilight expected to see when the time machine finally slowed its noise back down to an almost unidentifiable hum. Shakily extracting herself from the strap of her seat, Twilight stepped forward onto the metal floor. Her hooves clacked loudly as she trotted around the room experimentally. Doubt crossed her mind as she stared at the black tube containing the time matrix’s complex runes.
Had the machine really worked? There was only one way to find out.
Twilight trotted over to the control panel affixed to the back of the center column and read hungrily over the various readings across its screen. The readings ranged in detail from how much vegetation was outside, all the way to the ambient magic surrounding the silver transport.
Everything read normal, save for the reports from underground scans indicating that there was a five foot thick area of a mysterious metal beneath the edge of the time machine. Wherever the machine had landed, it was certainly not above ground as she had expected it to be; she was inside a building.
The thought of being in an alien structure, no, a structure of the future sent adrenaline coursing through Twilight’s veins. Giddy with excitement, Twilight turned to the door panel, adjusted the neck of her jumpsuit, and activated the switch. Moving at an agonizing crawl, the silver door slid slowly to the side and Twilight finally stepped outside onto the mysterious metal that served as the floor.
Twilight’s mouth fell agape as she gazed around the room. The chamber was massive! The onyx tinted floor shined up at her, clacking as she walked like it were made of marble. A huge dome sat almost ten stories above her, covered in one huge mural. Squinting her eyes, Twilight managed to find two large familiar forms painted onto the dome; Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. The purple princess gasped in surprise and took an involuntary step backwards. Instead of entering her time machine once more, Twilight collided into something soft.
Something organic.
In a flash Twilight had her horn trained on whatever had been behind her. All that remained were a few drifting sparks in the air; the remnants of a unicorn’s teleport. Feeling a light tap on her shoulder, Twilight slowly turned her head, fearing the worst.
She came face to face with her own snoot.
“Boop!” Her doppelganger chortled, taking a step backwards. Twilight fell to the floor in surprise and stared slack jawed at the violet pony before her. The doppelganger continued chuckling as Twilight examined her suspiciously.
“I love doing that to the new arrivals.”
The pony seemed to share all of Princess Twilight’s characteristics, from her violet coat, to her striped mane colored in all the right hues, one could easily mistake the pony for Princess Twilight, if it weren’t for the fact that they were missing wings. After finally recovering, Twilight managed out a proper response.
“Bwuh?” She shook her head and pointed an accusing hoof. “You’re me?”
“Actually, it’s more like we’re both me, or we’re both you,” the doppelganger pondered. Twilight snorted and lowered her hoof.
“Sorry changeling, but yo—” Twilight was quick to grasp onto what the flavor of her hoof was like. The doppelganger retracted their hoof quickly and gave an embarrassed grin.
“There aren’t any changelings in the Hub at all,” her doppelganger smiled, tilting her head to side to reveal a blue piercing in her right ear. “You’re new here, so you wouldn’t understand. But don’t worry, I can be your guide.” She offered a hoof down for Twilight to stand back up with. With some remaining suspicion, Twilight relented and allowed the unicorn to help her up.
“Who are you then? And why do you look like me?” Curiosity took hold of Twilight, her hunger to learn more about her new acquaintance bringing her focus back onto the strange blue accessory. “And what’s with the piercing?”
“Oh goody!” The unicorn sat down on the onyx floor and clapped her hooves together. “Curious and a questionnaire, my favorite!” Twilight stared confusedly as the doppelganger continued.
“Well, I am Twilight CELU-1031U, but you can call me Blue.” Blue stuck her hoof out for a hoofshake. Still confused, Twilight awkwardly returned the gesture.
“Um… nice to meet… you?” Blue nodded.
“Well, moving on to your second question, the reason that we’re both Twilights is because the dimensional timelines somehow like to bring all of us here to the Hub!”
“The Hub?” Twilight questioned, looking around the large chamber, empty save for her time machine and an awkwardly placed potted plant. This was the center of a dimensional hubway? Twilight paused, returning to Blue’s words. “Wait, Twilights? Does that mean there’s more than just the two of us here?”
“Yep!”
“And they’re all from different… dimensions?” Blue gave an affirmative hum.
Twilight gestured back at her silver box. “But I built a time machine, not a dimensional gate! If this is another dimension, than why would my time machine bring me here?” Blue rubbed her chin in thought.
“What if I told you…” Blue redirected her hoof to point at Twilight, “That this is your future.” Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but eventually closed it.
“That… actually makes sense.” She pondered a new idea for a moment. “Wouldn’t that mean that you and the… ahem, other Twilights, would be dimensional travellers coming to my future?”
“Probably, yes. But!” Blue turned and pointed at the exit to the chamber, where a levitating black box lined with windows sat. Stairs led up to open doorways on either side. “We need to get you assigned with a proper Equinity Code at the reception, and also because i’m pretty sure Dave is going to come get me because my hour is up.”
“What’s an Equinity Code? And who’s Dave?”
“Later, on the maglev, I mean on the train, no… Whatever!” Twilight found herself scooped up in telekinesis as Blue began running towards the floating cube. “We’ll talk when we’re inside the transporter!”
“I can walk, you know!”
“This is faster!” Twilight sighed in defeat and let herself be carried.
Twilight loosened the tight seat belt that Blue had tied too tightly around her. The innards of the box were unremarkable, and if anything the walls were just polished way too much; the lights in the ceiling of the transport kept reflecting into her eyes.
“Alright,” Blue said, adjusting her own seat belt. The doors shut closed and the box began moving forward down an invisible path. “Now we can continue with your questions.” She cleared her throat.
“You wanted to know about the piercing, right?” Twilight nodded.
“Well, ever since the first Twilights arrived in this dimension, we noticed that we all shared the exact same coat colors. So the bureau made this place called the Parlor where you can go, and I quote, ‘promote your individuality.’” She pointed at the blue piercing in her right ear. “Hence the reason I have this piercing.”
“And the nickname?”
“Yep!” Blue smiled. Twilight sighed and looked at her new friend from across the room.
“Another question answered, another arises. Alright then, so what’s an Equinity Code?”
“It’s another way of distinguishing Twilights mentally. The bureau likes to promote nicknaming as it is much easier, but some Twilights prefer the Equinity Code.” Blue’s horn lit up as she began focusing her magic. With a pop, a book crackled into existence to before her. It floated over to Twilight, who took it in her own telekinesis and read the cover.
“The Twilight Codex, written by… Faust of 1010U?”
“Yep, and it’s a ‘condensed volumes’ version as well, so you can read everything the Discovery Bureau has set up for the Hub’s visitors.”
“Thanks,” Twilight smiled brightly and placed the surprisingly small book into a side pocket on her jumpsuit.
“No problem, you can keep it as long as you need. Anyway, that leaves you with two more questions to ask; which one will it be?”
“Dave?” Blue smiled a little and sank a little into her chair.
“Dave’s a good guy, he lets me into the arrivals section sometimes, the place where we
just left, just so I can meet up with and help new Twilights.” She shrugged. “We don’t get as many arrivals as the year before, but I still try to come down there everyday.” Blue straightened herself out.
“Anyway! Dave was the first friend I made in the Hub. He runs the day shift at the reception desk, but mostly just kicks back all the time and shares stories with any Twilights who come to visit him. He’s great to hang out with when you don’t feel like studying anything.” Twilight smiled at the grin adorning Blue’s face.
“Dave sounds like a good pony.” Blue laughed, much to Twilight’s confusion. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, Dave’s not a pony. He’s a human.” Twilight blinked.
Blue looked surprised. “Really? Not going to even ask what a human is?” Twilight shook her head.
“I already know what they are; I met with some of them through the Crystal Mirror.”
“Oh, when I went through the Crystal Mirror in my dimension, all I found was a void with remnants of the Crystal Empire… and other civilizations.” Blue frowned. “There were empires of old and new which had succumbed to some sort of dimensional curse. Some would disappear after a set amount of time, and more would appear, all with different characteristics.”
“That’s… unsettling.”
“Quite.”
An awkward pause hovered about the air.
“Discovery Bureau?” Twilight finally asked after a time.
“They just handle the Equinity Codes and rules concerning Twilights in the Hub.”
“Oh.” The silence of before returned with a vengeance.
Blue summoned another book in her magic. She held it in front of her.
“Reading session?”
“Would I,” Twilight grinned. The two avid readers cracked open their respective books.
Author's Note
How do even pacing?
I'll try working on my pacing for next time.
BONUS:
Equinity Code System
After an incredible influx of Twilights in the legendary “Twilightenment,” the Discovery Bureau was established, in charge of running a system that categorized Twilights so they could be identified individually. It begins with three general categories as a basis for Equinity Code Identities:
Current Equestrian Rulers
Possibilities: Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Blueblood.
These are written into the code by using the first two letters of the ruler’s name.
Example: Celestia = CE & Blueblood = BU. Do note that some dimensions may contain multiple rulers. Mix lettering as required.
This category is the first of the three general areas, and is written first in an Equinity Code.
Year of First Dimensional Travel
Explanation: The year in which a twilight departs dimensionally for their first time is their “year number.”
Example: CE-1034 = Celestia - *species* of the year 1025.
This category is the second of the three general areas, and is written second in an Equinity Code.
Species
Possibilities: Unicorn, Earth Pony, Pegasus
These are written into the code by using the first letter of their species.
Example: Unicorn = U and Earthpony = E.
This category is the third of the three general areas, and is written third in an Equinity Code.
Full Equinity Code
Equinity Code for Princess Twilight is: CELU-1025A.
This literally means: Celestia & Luna - Alicorn of the Year 1025.
