Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes. She wasn't sure what was happenning, but she was pretty sure that this wasn't her bedroom anymore. Maybe it was the lack of windows, or maybe the towering humanoid figure apparently made of light sitting on the floor next to her. The Princess of Friendship, strong of her training under Princess Celestia, promptly reacted as a royal should: she started screaming her head off and readied a blast that could have blown a hole in her neighbor.
"Easy there."
The large figure turned to face her, and extinguished her horn with thumb and forefinger as one would do with a candle.
"Do be calm, Twilight. I mean you no harm."
Twilight turned to face her interlocutor, looking up to gaze at his face - a couple of eyes and a mouth barely visible in the glow.
"Who are you? Why am I here?"
The glowing being smiled. "My name is... well, you can call me Platypus. I'm a Brush Outlier, and I brought you here because I thought that you had to see what I'll show you. I would have brought Celestia as well, but she's, um, a little imposing. And I didn't bring your friends either because they would have reacted just as badly - except for Pinkie Pie. Then again, Pinkie already knows."
Twilight nodded, slightly confused. "So... why me, anyway?"
"You were my second choice - and the first hadn't enough authority to use the knowledge for good." That said, Platypus stood up, moving towards the entrance of what, now that Twilight looked at it, was apparently a cave. She cocked her head in puzzlement.
"The First?"
"The True Heart of us Brushes - Derpy Hooves."
Okay, that was weird. Twilight DID know the funny wall-eyed mailmare, but didn't realize she was so important to a race she had never met before. Thinking of what to say, she trotted after her new acquaintance out of the mouth of the cave - and stopped, aghast.
For some reason, from the top of what looked like a huge mountain she had never known of, she could see all of Equestria - but an Equestria she could barely recognize: near the Badlands, a newly triumphant Queen Chrysalis was standing over the body of a shattered Thorax, in the Crystal Empire Sombra was back, larger than life and twice as cruel, roaring in amusement while Flurry Heart was desperately holding a shield to protect her wounded parents, in Ponyville Discord was almost done swallowing what looked like Celestia herself... and in the meanwhile dozens of creatures of every possible kind and shape - but mostly humans - were scurrying around, destroying the life of all her friends and acquaintances.
Twilight flared her wings, ready to take flight, when a finger poked her back, gently forcing her to sit. Platypus sighed deeply, turning to another Outlier.
"THIS bad?"
The other shook his head in bemusement, then raised both hands - and the scene changed. Chrysalis was again in exile, Thorax was alive and happy, Sombra was nowhere to be seen... everything was the way she remembered, aside from a few humans that had stuck around and a handful of ponies and other creatures that for some reason glowed like beacons in a land of anonymous ponies. Among them she could recognize her friends, the CMC, Derpy and Lyra (that, for some reason, were glowing brighter than even Celestia) and her acquaintances from all over, including - for some reason - her pals from the Canterlot High dimension.
Then, once more, a ripple of power swept over Equestria, starting from another mountain. This one, however, felt slightly different: aside from the sound she made (a sort of howling "Awoooo"), it picked up a copy of every pony it touched and moved them to what looked like other dimensions: in some things were even better than in the Equestria she remembered, in others, well... not so much. Twilight stopped for a moment to stare at a little unicorn mare in a blue overall with an oversized wristwatch on one hoof, and the mare waved in acknowledgement, then the dimensions snapped closed. The purple alicorn turned again to Platypus, who sat down next to her.
"Explanation time, I guess. As I told you, I - like my friends here - am a Brush Outlier. I make small changes in reality, adding decorations to spice up life. You'll find out that most of us Brushes are friendly enough, if sometimes a bit bossy. You see, we like you for what you are, and wouldn't dream of changing too much. Then there are the Chisel Outliers. They have bigger, more impressive ideas for Equestria, so they make copies of what they need and chip off bits of reality to make worlds they can rewrite at their leisure. They have an Equestria in mind, but since there is already one they make another. And finally..."
Just as he was speaking, from a third mountain shot out yet another ripple: this one was literally ripping off bits of Equestria, changing people of every race - again Chrysalis was ruling a festering cesspit of a changeling realm, built on the corpses of the neo-lings and their ruler, Discord was clearly planning a horrific betrayal, Tirek was once more free (only to be killed in one shot by a being even nastier and more vile) and, worse yet, a lot of what she saw literally made no sense. Caribous allying with Discord to... nevermind..., Celestia turning into a worse Tyrant than Chrysalis on her worst day, Twilight herself treating her friends like toys... Spells that could never have worked, geography changed to favor somepony against somepony else, laws rewritten in scant seconds - including the laws of physics -, technology switching from modern to stone-age and back... and, for some reason, those changes often seemed to fight each other.
Platypus frowned, while the other Brush facepalmed.
"...and then there are the Hammer Outliers. They don't give a flip if your Equestria is YOUR Equestria, they change what they want, how they want, when they want. And if you don't like it, well, too bad, it's clear that you can't understand their magnificent vision of a perfect Equestria."
In a single move, a whole score of Brushes stepped out and slammed a foot on the ground, repelling the changes the Hammers had made: at the same time, a blast shot out from Chisel Mountain, swallowing the changes and pulling them inside their pet pocket worlds. For a moment, Twilight could see the Hammers looking at her condescendingly, ready to change again her land into a hellish landscape of their own creation, modifying minds and bodies at their leisure. Then the image of Hammer mountain faded.
"They wanted to let you know that they exist - and that you have to accept them. They think they know better. They don't, and neither do we, nor the Chisels."
Twilight looked at Platypus, confused. "Then... WHO knows better?"
Platypus smiled, then looked up at yet another mountain - and Twilight felt woozy, because if Chisel, Hammer and Brush Mountains were huge, compared to this one they were barely hillocks. On the mountain, a kind-looking redheaded woman, a large, jolly man, a smart man with sparkling, mirthful eyes and a bunch of others were looking with affection on Equestria and the Outliers as if they were watching young ones playing. For some reason, Twilight felt her heart literally bursting with enough love to feed an entire nest of old changelings for aeons. The redhead smiled lovingly, and Twilight's eyes filled with tears of happiness.
Platypus petted Twilight's mane, smiling as well. "They do. The Main Outliers. They created everything, and allow us Lesser Outliers to play in their domain."
Twilight frowned. This was more than a little humbling. "Then... what are we for? Are we just toys for you to handle - and for the hammers to break?"
Platypus looked at her, aghast. "No! Never! Listen, Twilight... We may be obnoxious, weird, sometimes funny, sometimes sad... but we're just us! In the end, reality as you know it always snaps back, and what we do amounts to nothing!" he fumbled around in what looked like a pocket, then pulled out what looked like a cute little doll of Derpy with a huge head. "...Almost nothing. And every change that sticks, it sticks because of love."
With a titanic sigh, Platypus moved to a kneeling position, shrinking a little. "Can I... hug you?"
Twilight looked at the nigh omnipotent creature in amusement. He could have ordered her to let him - or simply make her do that - and yet there he was, stumbling on his words like a bashful foal. She nodded.
Platypus wrapped his arms around her neck, running a hand along the feather of one of her wings, and spoke again.
"This is all I wanted to say and show, Twilight. Now wake up, and remember, we all love you little ponies, and we all - even the Hammers, in their absurd way - care for you, some more than others."
With a gasp, Twilight woke up. She was back in her bedroom, in her castle. She thought back to her weird dream, about the mysterious Outliers, the red-headed lady, and an everchanging Equestria... She'd have to talk with Luna, that's for sure.
Then her eyes fell on a little toy on her bedstand... a little Derpy doll with a huge head.
Starlight Glimmer stepped inside the kitchen of the Friendship Castle, famished after a good night of sleep. She sniffed the air, her nostrils and tummy rejoicing as they detected Spike's delicious breakfast. She looked at the baby dragon, busy at the cooking range.
"Good morning, Spike! Say, that looks delicious! By the way, do you know if Twilight is working on a transformation spell of some kind?"
Spike looked at her pinkish friend in puzzlement. "Not that I know, why?"
Starlight shrugged. "I was passing by her room, and saw her reading her fanfictions over and over, saying "Please let me be a Brush, please let me be a Brush, please let me be a Brush...". Weird, isn't it?"
The two smiled, amused at their mentor's antics, then looked out of the open window. Ponyville was as beautiful as ever: the ponies were milling around, busy and happy, and just in front of the window was passing a pink puffball of a pony - or was it a black baby alicorn with a shield cutie mark, or maybe a couple of ponies in suit and sunglasses on a mission from God? Eh, whatever. It was looking like it would be yet another wonderful, wonderful day.
