Echoes of Equestria: Multiverse Shenanigans

The electrical sparks and blasts of sounds and lights were both blinding and deafening. Shielding my eyes as my ears folded back against my head, I dove for cover under the table.

“What in the name of Celestia is going on down here?”

The cacophony died down as I slowly extracted myself from beneath the table. Turning toward Twilight, I smiled sheepishly and replied, “A miscalculation?”

Twilight opened her mouth, but before she could speak our attention was drawn to the mirror portal.

As we gazed into the portal, I could see scenes and buildings unfolding within. I could feel my face breaking out in an excited grin, and I could just picture stars in my eyes like I’ve seen happen to other ponies when they become ecstatic. Hey. It’s magic. I ain’t gotta explain shit.

“It worked. It worked! IT WORKED!” I exclaimed, bouncing around the room.

“What worked?”

My bouncing came to an abrupt halt as I turned toward her explaining, “I’ve cracked the portal.”

“What?”

Moving over to a set of controls, I began to type in the instructions—Past Sins. Pen Stroke. Twilight’s home—answering, “I’ve figured out how to program the portal to open onto any world that’s part of your multiverse. In other words, I can visit the stories I’ve seen or read back home.”

As she read what I had inputted on the screen, she commented, “I don’t see how typing in the name of a story and the author’s name is gonna make that portal open on to their world.”

“Think of it like a search engine. As long as the world is part of the prime world on the tree it will find it.”

“Tree?”

“OK, think of the prime world as the root of a giant tree. As it rises majestically from the ground, each branch that grows from it is another world that’s a part of the metaverse.”

Nodding she was then distracted from what she was about to say from a ding that came from the machine.

“It’s found it! Come on. Let’s go.”

“Not so fast,” she said, levitating and setting me in front of her. “Before we go anywhere, you don’t mind if I test this thing out first? Make sure it’s not gonna tear us apart?”

“Or come in Twilight. Like I’d be so careless. I assure you that it’s perfectly safe.”

“All the same. I’m running safety checks.”

“Fine, but you’re wasting your time.”

“Well, it’s mine to waste.”

Grumbling, I took a seat as I waited for Twilight to run her dumb safety checks. After a while Twilight turned to me and said. “Sorry, but I hope you appreciate that…”

“Yea, yea. That you’re looking out for my safety. Twilight. How many times have I created a or modified a spell?”

Blushing she replied, “Point taken. However I just felt this was a bit too dangerous to just dive into.”

“And if I had had that attitude I never would have come here.”

“That’s different. You were being guided by the creator. Here, you’ve modified an already magical artifact which caused a cacophonous racket.”

Well, she shut me up. I could only sheepishly grin and nod.

Smiling she went on to say, “Well, with all that being said, this portal is almost perfect.”

“Almost?”

“Yea. There was one minor issue. However, I’ve corrected it.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask.”

Grinning she continued, “Oh, it was nothing too serious. Just if we had gone through as it was, we’d have lost our lunch. The inertial dampeners were offline.”

“Oh. Heh, heh. Thanks for insisting on checking my work.”

“No need to thank me. Just looking out for you as any good friend would.”

As we approached the portal, I went on to say, “And thanks for the other thing too.”

“What other thing?”

“Not saying ‘I told you so’.”

She simply smiled and said, “Well, shall we?”

Nodding as I smiled and replied, “Ladies first.”

“Ah. Such a gentlecolt.” Then she stepped through with me following after.

***

“My word. I never thought I would see it again,” Twilight said as tears threatened to spill down her face.

Before us stood the Golden Oaks Library, a perfect recreation of the home Twilight once cherished. Watching her gaze at it, a mix of longing and sadness on her face, her sense of loss was unmistakable.

“Oh yea. I should have probably prepared you for…” Suddenly I was cocooned in fur and feathers. All I could do was hold her as she wept with joy as she thanked me.

Shortly though, she managed to pull herself together, and we approached the library. Lifting her hoof, she knocked on the door.

Moments later it opened as Spike did a double take upon seeing Twilight. Slamming the door he could be heard running and shouting for Twilight. Moments later the door opens again. “Spike, I assure you. You must have been see…” A beat. “Huh? Wha? Why? How am I there? Why am I standing there? How is this even possible? Where did you come from?”

“I have so many questions!” I just couldn’t help myself.

“Nyx’s Twilight blinked at me, totally derailed by my outburst, before getting back on track. “OK. Choosing to ignore the Alicorn colt randomly screaming that for now, how? And furthermore, why are you here? This is not scientifically possible.” She pokes my Twilight and continues, “You’re not scientifically possible.”

Looking askance at me, my Twilight laments, “Please tell me I wasn’t as bad as this.”

“Oh yea. Those last two lines were, in fact, a direct quote from Season 2, Episode 20 titled, ‘It’s About Time’.”

Before either Twilight could respond to that, an adorable little black filly poked her head around that door asking, “Mom. When’s dinner?” She then spotted us. “Why are there two mommies.” Her eyes brightened. “Does that other mommy have wings?”

Nyx’s Twilight’s eyes also grow bigger. “You have wings?! I have wings?!”

Giggling Nyx says joyously, “My other mommy’s a princess like me.” She then approached my Twilight. “Wow! Your wings are so big and pretty.”

She unfurled them and said, “What? These old things?”

“OK. Hold on,” Nyx’s Twilight said. “First of all, let’s go inside and get some tea.”

Shortly after, the four of us were seated around the table as Spike fell into his role of servant and quickly provided tea for all of us.

Nyx’s Twilight then spoke up after having a sip of her tea. “So, how exactly are you here, and how did you arrive?”

I replied, “Well, my Twilight—she’s got this mirror portal that lets her travel to another world. Basically, it was like… well, actually, I probably shouldn’t tell you too much about it in case something similar happens to you. I’ve got to worry about, you know, foreknowledge. Sharing too much about what might happen in your future could be dangerous. So anyway, I managed to reconfigure the portal to allow me to open it up to any world I could think of.”

Nyx’s Twilight nodded slowly, processing my words, before replying, “That answers the first part of my question. So that just leaves the second part.”

“Well, basically, it was to meet Nyx.”

Nyx’s eyes widened in surprise, and she exclaimed, “Me? You wanted to meet me?”

I nodded to her in confirmation, and she went on to say, “Why did you want to meet me?”

Smiling warmly, I replied, “Back home, I read about you—your courage, your growth, everything you went through. It inspired me in ways I can’t even explain. Meeting you in person has been a dream of mine ever since I first read about you.”

Her eyes took on a look of wonder, mingled with shock and awe, as she replied, “Whoa, you read about me?”

She interjected at this point, “Wait, how did you read about her?”

I knew this question would come eventually, so I took a deep breath and dove right in, explaining to them that the world I originally came from wasn’t Equestria at all, but a place called Earth. On Earth, I was a completely different species—a human being. In that world, I watched a show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, which, as I explained, was essentially their world.

I went on to describe how this show inspired a massive following, a huge fan base that created their own content—music, videos, and stories, all based on the ideas from the show. One such fan, who went by the handle Pen Stroke, wrote a story called Past Sins. The story explored what might have happened if Nightmare Moon had been allowed to return and rule after her initial banishment. It involved a group of ponies who sought to bring her back to life, along with everything that followed from that.

I finished with a small grin, adding, “I mean, I don’t need to tell you—you lived it. So yeah, that’s how I know about you.”

Eyes narrowing in disbelief, she replied, “Oh, come on, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

Twilight’s wings twitched slightly as she quickly replied, “I know it’s hard to believe at first, but trust me, it is the truth.”

“Oh,” she asked challengingly, “and you were able to verify that?”

“No, I wasn’t able to verify it,” my Twilight replied. “At least, not physically—not yet. However, the pathway is open, and I can go there whenever I choose.”

Her expression shifted from disbelief to shock. “Wait, you can actually traverse to his dimension? A world filled with creatures that aren’t like us?”

Nodding, she replied, “Yes. Celestia actually made the trip herself, wanting to see the world Simon came from with her own eyes and interact with its people. She’s basically our world’s diplomat to his world now.”

Her eyes took on a questioning look. “Why is there a bridge between your two worlds? What exactly happened in your world?”

In unison, as if it were rehearsed, we both replied, “It’s a long story.”

“I can imagine,” she went on to say. “You must have had quite the adventure over there.”

Smiling gently, my Twilight wrapped her wing around me, pressing me to her side. “Yeah, this little bundle fell into our laps one day, and he totally turned our world upside down. We love him very much.”

Giggling, I replied, “Quite literally, in fact.”

Nyx’s Twilight’s eyes took on a questioning look. “Oh, that sounds intriguing. You can’t just leave me hanging like that. Elaborate.”

“Not much to say,” I replied. “I quite literally fell into their laps. The portal that brought me to their Equestria opened out onto the sky, like a hundred feet off the ground. If Rainbow Dash hadn’t caught me at the last moment, I would have made a pretty ugly stain on the landscape.”

I shuddered a bit at the memory.

Grimacing, she replied, “Seriously? Seems like whoever made that portal should have given more thought of where to place the exit aperture.”

“Personally, I think God did it on purpose in order to endear me to the ponies when they first met me,” I added with a smirk.

With a puzzled expression, she asked, “Who’s God?”

Twilight then responded, “It’s what the humans call the Creator.”

The other Twilight nodded in understanding. “Oh, I see. Heh. I didn’t know the Creator had a flair for the dramatic.”

“I guess God loves good theater,” I remarked.

Then the three of us laughed. Nyx just looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong, Nyx?” I asked her. “Aren’t you following along with any of this? The God, Creator thing? You know, them being the same all-powerful being?”

She simply shook her head and said, “Who’s the Creator?”

My Twilight gasped as if in shock and replied, “You haven’t taught Nyx about the Creator yet?”

She smiled sheepishly, blushing. “Uh, no, we haven’t exactly gotten around to that yet. Heh heh heh.”

“Well, then, it is a discussion whose time has long since been coming,” I said matter of factly, with a very stern tone.

My Twilight nodded with the same stern expression on her face, agreeing silently.

“You are right,” Nyx’s Twilight replied. “We will have the talk as soon as the two of you leave, I promise.”

On that note, I replied, “I think it is about time we did just that.”

Nyx pouted and said, “Aww, do you really have to leave already?”

Nodding, I replied, “Do not worry, this is not goodbye. We have a portal. I can visit you whenever I want.”

She smiled happily and said, “Oh, great. I cannot wait to see you again. You seem fun. Next time, let us play together.”

Giggling slightly, I said, “It is a date.”

And with that, Twilight and I took our leave. Gazing back from the portal for a last look, Twilight commented, “Thank you, Simon. It was a true joy to see the old library again. I also understand why you wanted to meet Nyx. She is so adorable.”

“Did you miss my whole speech about her bravery and growth—basically her whole story resonating with me?”

“No, I didn’t miss that,” she remarked with a knowing smile.

Rolling my eyes, I responded, “OK, yes, she was adorable. All ponies are adorable. That’s not news to me.”

Giggling, she and I stepped through the portal, returning to our own world. I looked forward to the day when I would see Nyx again.