Binary's Experimentsby XartisChaptersPrologueBending LightThe InternetThe 4th WallPrologueIt was an ordinary day in Equestria, the Sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Binary was conducting scientific research in his laboratory. He had reached the point of the day when all the enthusiasm had drained out of him, most likely to find somewhere more interesting to be. Binary had grown bored of productivity and was now burning copper salts to create a vibrant green flame, which for some reason was fun even the fiftieth time. Binary was prepared to do this all day, until he found out that he had run out of copper salts. He pouted and he started thinking again. A thought struck him, there were several experiments that had been conducted back on Earth (his original birthplace, which was an immeasurable distance away) that hadn't been conducted there in Equestria. Binary quickly ran around his lab frantically, trying to think of something to do, or find something to trigger a thought. He had just had the brilliant idea that making a scientific discovery that had already been discovered on Earth might make him famous there in Equestria. The first thing he attempted to do was a very simple experiment that hadn't yet been thought of by the denizens of Equestria. He picked up a test tube from a rack, he poured some hydrochloric acid into it. He then put it back on the rack before he dropped it, as even now he was still getting used to hooves. He fumbled through a cupboard and produced a small strip of magnesium and a cork, he put the magnesium into the test tube, then put the cork on top. Binary knew that hydrogen was now being produced, he quickly searched a draw and pulled out a matchbox. He lit the match, removed the cork and quickly held the match over the test tube. Nothing. Binary stared at the test tube, puzzled. He noticed that the magnesium had not dissolved. It then occurred to him that the physics might be different in this dimension. The change in his understanding quickly sparked an idea in Binary's mind. He suddenly mumbled some words to himself, if there was anyone else in the room, they wouldn't have heard them. "I will bend light." Bending LightTwilight was dusting the shelves that lined the walls. The electric light that had recently been installed in her house flickered. This kept annoying her for several minutes until finally she turned it off. The illuminated room was at once darkened. Twilight hated it when her friends convinced her to get technology like this, it never worked the way her friends said they did. She always wondered what the point of getting her all this new technology was, seeing as it didn't affect her friends' lives at all. There was a rapid knocking at her door, there was a hint of urgency in it. Twilight opened the door. Rainbow Dash flew inside, she looked incredibly angry, but also slightly confused. She immediately turned to Twilight. "Twilight! All the lights in Ponyville keep flickering on and off! It's really annoying!" Twilight stared at her blankly "You mean the entirety of Ponyville is having the same problem?" Rainbow Dash responded "Yeah, that's what I just said!" Twilight continued staring at her blankly "So you're telling me this technology, which I said wouldn't work by the way, isn't working?" Rainbow Dash immediately understood what Twilight was saying "Look, I know that my amazing speech convinced you to buy these lights, but I swear they usually work!" "So what's the problem?" "That's what I came to ask you!" There was another knock at the door, this knock had a lot more urgency in it's tone than Rainbow Dash's. Twilight opened the door and Binary rushed in. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes "Lights not working for you either?" She was slightly surprised by the response "No, no, it's fine. Twilight you wouldn't happen to have a light projector would you?" There was distinct urgency in Binary's voice. Twilight soon realised what the problem might have been "Binary, what are you experimenting on now?" "Oh nothing, y'know. Just trying to bend light, so do you have one?" Twilight raised an eyebrow "Trying to what?" "Look Twilight, I don't have a lot of time to explain, do you have a light projector?" "No I don't." Twilight sounded slightly irritated. Binary sounded more so "Oh great, no-one in Ponyville has one!" Rainbow Dash chipped in "Have you asked Pinkie?" Binary face-hoofed, and then held his face in pain for a bit before responding "No I haven't, thanks for telling me!" He quickly rushed out the door, putting one hoof in front of the other, not taking no for an answer. That left Twilight with genuine puzzlement on her face. "Did he say he was going to... Bend light?" Rainbow Dash made a gesture with her hoof to indicate her non-belief "Oh please, Binary isn't stupid enough to think he can bend light, it's a wave and can't be bent." That left Twilight more puzzled, partly because of Binary's persistence on impossibility, partly because of Rainbow Dash's knowledge on the subject. "It's just one of those days..." Sighed Twilight. Binary groaned "This isn't working!" He slammed his hoof on the table, knocking over several pencils he had spent a few minutes placing upright. He yet again returned to his experiment, it wasn't an incredibly good experiment. There was a machine that was projecting a visible beam of light onto a wall. Binary was trying to apply the physics of a prism to the air that the light was travelling through. He had tried this several times. Binary thought about what could possibly be going wrong, he knew it was probably a simple answer. Then he got it. "I'll build a machine!" He sped off somewhere, leaving a silhouette of dust in his wake. He returned to his lab in some measurement of time. He had created a relatively small device, if you looked at it, you probably wouldn't know what it did. Binary knew what it did. He picked up a prism and placed it into a slot on the contraption, he proceeded to aim it at the beam of light. He pulled the hoof-sized trigger he had made. What happened next what somewhat mind-boggling. The entirety of existence shook as if it was very cold, it probably was cold seeing as most of it's large existence consists of space. I think we're all smart enough to assume it was Binary's experiment though, if not, you probably think it's some staggering coincidence, but if you were smart you'd know that staggering coincidences are highly unlikely to happen. Binary quickly ran to Twilight's house, hoping some extent of magic would fix the cracks in space and time. He passed himself, he ignored it, knowing that talking to your past or future self only breaks time more, it's also an incredibly awkward conversation, because either way you know what you're going to say. Binary rapped on the door, Twilight opened it. "I'm going to assume this was your fault?" Binary tried to be taken aback "Why would you assume such a thing?" He looked at Twilight's irritated facial expression "Yeah, it was me..." "Should I also assume you don't know how to fix it?" Binary was actually taken aback by this "You're being awfully stern today Twilight." Twilight sighed "I can help you, it's not like I have anything else to do, you know, with my library collapsing in on itself." Binary smiled "Oh thank you thank you thank you!" He hugged Twilight. "Don't we have a universe to save?" Binary's eyes widened as he remembered what had had come to Twilight for, he then released his grip, smiled, and stood in the most heroic pose he could. He yelled "Allons-y!" They both ran towards the town centre, where the rest of Twilight's friends were gathered. Pinkie was the first to speak "Twi, you're here!!" Rarity the second "What's happening? My boutique is collapsing!" Fluttershy the third "Umm...I don't want to interrupt but..umm..My animals are really scared." Rainbow Dash spoke next "All the clouds a disappearing, we've got rain scheduled for today!" Lastly, Applejack spoke "What do y'all think is happenin'?" Twilight answered all the questions and worries "Binary tried to bend light, so now the entire fabric of the universe is collapsing." The group was silent, until Pinkie spoke "That's what you wanted my light projector for?" Binary finally spoke "Yes, I did. It was an experiment, I didn't know it would rip apart the universe!" Suddenly, and out of nowhere, which are two important factors in everyone's bewilderment, a being appeared. It looked like a pony, only there was something a bit off. Maybe the fangs, but it could have also been the way that light bent around it at it's own accord. The universe didn't like the idea of it. The being spoke "Finally! I have entered a universe! I can now feast upon it's energy!" It jumped to a rip in the space-time continuum and began eating away at whatever was inside it. Binary stared at the being "Wha...What are you?" The being seemed polite enough to answer "I am a devourer of worlds!" He bellowed in a triumphant manner, he then added "Not a destroyer of worlds, I just eat what's left over by the destroyers." Everyone stared at Binary, Twilight said "So that makes...You, a...Destroyer of worlds?" The devourer was confused "Wait, what, what did he do?" Twilight answered before Binary could "He tried to bend light, thus disrupting the equilibrium of the universe!" The devourer looked at Binary "So, bending light destroyed this universe? Not some kind of epic battle between good and evil?" Binary spoke "When you put it that way...It does sound kind of boring doesn't it." The devourer looked slightly depressed "So that's why none of the others turned up..." Binary looked quizzical "What do you mean?" "Well, the more epic the reason for the disruption of a universe's existence, the better the universe's energy." "So, this tastes disgusting?" "Basically, yeah..." "Oh." "Yes mortal being, Oh." Binary stood in front of the being awkwardly "So you're saying that this universe is a really bad one to eat right now?" "Yes." "Could we possibly fix it then?" "Yes." Twilight perked up "How!?" "I can seal the rips in space and time with any energy I have left." Binary wasn't convinced "Which I assume isn't a lot?" "No, I do have enough energy to seal a few universes in me." "Well could you? Please?" The devourer looked in disbelief "Why should I do that?" Binary started his attempt at persuasion "This universe tastes disgusting, right?" "Right." "And there's no point in you eating it, right?" "Right." "So, if you sealed it, the universe would have another chance to have an epic battle, and then..." Binary made a gesture with his hoof, prompting the devourer to finish his sentence. "It would taste better!" Binary clapped his hooves. The devourer smiled "I'll get right on it! Also, when this assumed event happens, make sure I'm the first devourer who gets any!" Binary smiled "If it's within my lifespan, I will" The devourer smiled "I like you mortal, I will put you on my list of things I will not devourer when we run out of universe energy." Twilight spoke "What about me? And maybe some of his friends as well?" She pointed to her friends. The devourer rolled his eyes "Yeah, sure, why not?" Several Hours Later The devourer was sealing the last rip. It had occurred to him that it would be difficult to know when this universe was going to break again. Before he left he started this conversation with Binary "Is there any way you could contact me through reality?" Binary thought "We could try magic?" "Good idea!" He smiled "I just received a psychic thought from my friends! A universe is collapsing from to from a massive black hole! I call dibs on the Milky Way!" He yelled the last part to himself. He proceeded to jump out of the rip in space and time, he sealed it behind him. Binary sighed "Well, that was interesting." Twilight stared at him "Never do that again." Binary laughed "Come on, what else could I possibly do that would rip apart time and space again?" he turned round, only to be face-to-face with his future self. Binary looked down "Damn it..." The InternetTwilight was keeping a close eye on Binary, she was there to make sure he didn't step out of hoof. Binary was feeling intruded upon, more so, he felt untrusted, did she honestly think he would almost destroy the universe again? He did feel tempted though, it would probably teach her a lesson, except it wouldn't, because it would prove her right. Binary slumped in his chair, he didn't have any ideas. He didn't realise how hard it is to remember the past when colourful talking equines are now your world. Not that he missed humanity, it polluted and fought with itself, he couldn't help but think what might happen to Equestria in the future, seeing as it was entering some sort of half-technological, half-renaissance period. Binary thought of a pun, re-neigh-ssance. He laughed at it, then stopped once Twilight started glaring at him. "What were you laughing at?" She inquired sternly. "Just a, um, pun..." Binary was feeling awkward now. "And what was the pun?" The sternness in her voice was replaced fully with intrigue. "Umm...Well.." Binary stammered "Come on!" Her voice was now filled with playfulness. "It's...It's really quite terrible..." Binary was feeling incredibly embarrassed, about as embarrassed as someone who had just forgotten the name of the person they were talking to. "Go on, I promise I won't insult you" She beamed widely. He sighed "Okay then. You know the word renaissance?" Twilight nodded slowly. "Well, I thought up a pun." He paused slightly for effect "Re-neigh-ssance." There was no effect. Twilight stared at Binary for a few seconds, smiled, and then started laughing "That's so terrible! I, ahem, mean...It was great!" Binary felt insulted, and more so after she tried to cover up her insulting his joke "Can we just get on with the inventing?" "Sure, why not." Twilight was still thing not to laugh at how terrible the pun was, she was trying to laugh at the pun, but was failing. She didn't want to feel more guilty than she already was. Several hours passed as Binary drew ideas on a whiteboard, Twilight pointed out the dangers and rubbed off the idea and Binary slumped in his chair thinking. After the several hours of this tedious thinking Binary finally remembered something. "I know!" He yelled in great triumph. "What?" There was no excitement in Twilight's voice, he had said that three times already. "You know how you have those computers." Twilight nodded. "And you know how they can play games." Twilight nodded. "Well, I have an idea. We won't require disks, we can make this thing called 'The Internet', it will link all the computers together, so ponies can play these games together, they can talk to each other through this 'Internet' and they can even download things off the 'Internet' so they can play more games and stuff!" He smiled ecstatically. Twilight stared at him for a few minutes, thinking of all the ways it could destroy the universe. She thought of none. "That's a great idea! Ponies will be able to talk to each other!" She stopped and thought "How does it work?" Binary's smile faded "I...I have no idea..." Days passed, the birds sang loudly and annoyingly, the wind blew furiously and catastrophically. Binary and Twilight were working on their plans for 'The Internet'. "What if it has a microchip here?" Twilight inquired. "That's not how a microchip works." Binary replied. "What about there?" "No." "There?" "No." "How about...There!" "No! You pointed there 2 hours ago!" "Well I'm sorry! Why don't we just put one right there!" She swung her hoof angrily at the board. "Hey! That might work!" Twilight looked at the floor. "Are you sure?" "Yeah! Completely." "How?" "Oh, I knew that would work the whole time." Twilight stared in disbelief "So why didn't you just say so!?" "I didn't know where it was exactly!" Twilight gripped her hair somehow and pulled at it angrily, she stopped because it hurt. When she looked up again Binary was already attaching something to the machine. It was a towering machine, large gears and pipes were bolted across it, along with several touch-pad screens and large neon lights. It was all a bit garish to be honest. Binary wanted to go for a steam and cyber-punk look, They contrasted horribly and the made the whole thing look like a plumbing shop and an Apple store had crashed into each-other. Not that anyone in Equestria knew of Apple, they just accepted that's what it looked like. "So it's going to work?" There was a large amount of question in her voice." Binary laughed "Of course it's going to work, I just need to plug this wire into here!" He plugged it in. ... Nothing happened. ... Nothing continued to happen. ... Nothing got bored and left, so nonentity had to do it's best to stand in for it. ... Then something happened. The 4th Wall"So... What happened?" Twilight enquired in an inquisitive fashion. "I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure" Binary replied with uncertainty filling his voice. "And also, where in Equestria are we?" Twilight glanced around, suddenly realising they were not where they just were, which is usually a very distressing thing for sentient beings. "If I knew the answers to any of these questions, I assure you I would explain. Unfortunately for us, I don't, so stop asking!" He looked up "Hey, what's that over there?" Binary ran into the white void that surrounded him, seeing some kind of black monolith. He approached it, circled it, then sat on what was probably the floor. Twilight caught up with him "Wha-What is it?" "Are they..." "Huh?" "There are multiple objects..." Twilight noticed this "So there are..." "Wait!" Binary bolted upright "Those are words!" "Are they?" "Yes! Look, that one says 'Twilight', is that you?" Binary sat down again, with some kind of expression on his face. Silence. Then Twilight broke the silence with an almighty "Wha-buh?" "Wha-buh indeed, Twilight..." Binary muttered "Wha-buh indeed..." "Why do you have to be so weird?" "Excuse me?" "Nothing." "No! You said something, tell me what you said!" Binary hated when people did this to him. "I-I didn't say anything." "You did!" "Didn't" "Did!" "Didn't" "Why are we acting like 7-year olds!?" Binary yelled into the white beyond. "You started it." "Did not!" "Did too!" "AAGGHH!" Binary flailed his arms around, blatantly showing his irritation. Unfortunately this is not easy for ponies, they tend to need all four of their limbs on the floor at all times to keep balance, and flailing doesn't help with that either. Binary picked his face up off the floor, not in the literal sense, I'm just mocking him. "Ow..." Binary rubbed his nose "Hey, what's that down there!?" Binary looked down, past the floor which looked like everything else around him, except all of the gigantic text looming over him in a completely non-malevolent way, as text tends to do. "There's more text down there!" "What does it say?" Twilight inquired inquiringly. "It says '"What does it say?" Twilight inquired inquiringly.'" "That's what I just said." "Yeah, thanks for pointing that out, I didn't know that, thanks for the information," Binary used as much sarcasm in the words as possible, just as Twilight used as much force as possible in her punch. Binary spent the next few seconds on the floor, cradling his mouth. After a few minutes he stood up "Ugh, why is my face getting so injured today..." "That's not important, what's important is that we find out where we are." "H-Hey, what's that?" Binary pointed in a direction often considered as you, unless, of course, you're reading this story from behind your computer screen, in which case I don't know which direction he's pointing, sorry. Twilight looked at where Binary was pointing "I think it's a person..." "Why is he staring this way?" "Maybe he's reading the words?" Binary sat down again, it seemed to be a recurring theme for him today. Several minutes of sitting and staring happened until a portal opened and a pink pony pulled both Binary and Twilight through it.
PrologueIt was an ordinary day in Equestria, the Sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Binary was conducting scientific research in his laboratory. He had reached the point of the day when all the enthusiasm had drained out of him, most likely to find somewhere more interesting to be. Binary had grown bored of productivity and was now burning copper salts to create a vibrant green flame, which for some reason was fun even the fiftieth time. Binary was prepared to do this all day, until he found out that he had run out of copper salts. He pouted and he started thinking again. A thought struck him, there were several experiments that had been conducted back on Earth (his original birthplace, which was an immeasurable distance away) that hadn't been conducted there in Equestria. Binary quickly ran around his lab frantically, trying to think of something to do, or find something to trigger a thought. He had just had the brilliant idea that making a scientific discovery that had already been discovered on Earth might make him famous there in Equestria. The first thing he attempted to do was a very simple experiment that hadn't yet been thought of by the denizens of Equestria. He picked up a test tube from a rack, he poured some hydrochloric acid into it. He then put it back on the rack before he dropped it, as even now he was still getting used to hooves. He fumbled through a cupboard and produced a small strip of magnesium and a cork, he put the magnesium into the test tube, then put the cork on top. Binary knew that hydrogen was now being produced, he quickly searched a draw and pulled out a matchbox. He lit the match, removed the cork and quickly held the match over the test tube. Nothing. Binary stared at the test tube, puzzled. He noticed that the magnesium had not dissolved. It then occurred to him that the physics might be different in this dimension. The change in his understanding quickly sparked an idea in Binary's mind. He suddenly mumbled some words to himself, if there was anyone else in the room, they wouldn't have heard them. "I will bend light."
Bending LightTwilight was dusting the shelves that lined the walls. The electric light that had recently been installed in her house flickered. This kept annoying her for several minutes until finally she turned it off. The illuminated room was at once darkened. Twilight hated it when her friends convinced her to get technology like this, it never worked the way her friends said they did. She always wondered what the point of getting her all this new technology was, seeing as it didn't affect her friends' lives at all. There was a rapid knocking at her door, there was a hint of urgency in it. Twilight opened the door. Rainbow Dash flew inside, she looked incredibly angry, but also slightly confused. She immediately turned to Twilight. "Twilight! All the lights in Ponyville keep flickering on and off! It's really annoying!" Twilight stared at her blankly "You mean the entirety of Ponyville is having the same problem?" Rainbow Dash responded "Yeah, that's what I just said!" Twilight continued staring at her blankly "So you're telling me this technology, which I said wouldn't work by the way, isn't working?" Rainbow Dash immediately understood what Twilight was saying "Look, I know that my amazing speech convinced you to buy these lights, but I swear they usually work!" "So what's the problem?" "That's what I came to ask you!" There was another knock at the door, this knock had a lot more urgency in it's tone than Rainbow Dash's. Twilight opened the door and Binary rushed in. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes "Lights not working for you either?" She was slightly surprised by the response "No, no, it's fine. Twilight you wouldn't happen to have a light projector would you?" There was distinct urgency in Binary's voice. Twilight soon realised what the problem might have been "Binary, what are you experimenting on now?" "Oh nothing, y'know. Just trying to bend light, so do you have one?" Twilight raised an eyebrow "Trying to what?" "Look Twilight, I don't have a lot of time to explain, do you have a light projector?" "No I don't." Twilight sounded slightly irritated. Binary sounded more so "Oh great, no-one in Ponyville has one!" Rainbow Dash chipped in "Have you asked Pinkie?" Binary face-hoofed, and then held his face in pain for a bit before responding "No I haven't, thanks for telling me!" He quickly rushed out the door, putting one hoof in front of the other, not taking no for an answer. That left Twilight with genuine puzzlement on her face. "Did he say he was going to... Bend light?" Rainbow Dash made a gesture with her hoof to indicate her non-belief "Oh please, Binary isn't stupid enough to think he can bend light, it's a wave and can't be bent." That left Twilight more puzzled, partly because of Binary's persistence on impossibility, partly because of Rainbow Dash's knowledge on the subject. "It's just one of those days..." Sighed Twilight. Binary groaned "This isn't working!" He slammed his hoof on the table, knocking over several pencils he had spent a few minutes placing upright. He yet again returned to his experiment, it wasn't an incredibly good experiment. There was a machine that was projecting a visible beam of light onto a wall. Binary was trying to apply the physics of a prism to the air that the light was travelling through. He had tried this several times. Binary thought about what could possibly be going wrong, he knew it was probably a simple answer. Then he got it. "I'll build a machine!" He sped off somewhere, leaving a silhouette of dust in his wake. He returned to his lab in some measurement of time. He had created a relatively small device, if you looked at it, you probably wouldn't know what it did. Binary knew what it did. He picked up a prism and placed it into a slot on the contraption, he proceeded to aim it at the beam of light. He pulled the hoof-sized trigger he had made. What happened next what somewhat mind-boggling. The entirety of existence shook as if it was very cold, it probably was cold seeing as most of it's large existence consists of space. I think we're all smart enough to assume it was Binary's experiment though, if not, you probably think it's some staggering coincidence, but if you were smart you'd know that staggering coincidences are highly unlikely to happen. Binary quickly ran to Twilight's house, hoping some extent of magic would fix the cracks in space and time. He passed himself, he ignored it, knowing that talking to your past or future self only breaks time more, it's also an incredibly awkward conversation, because either way you know what you're going to say. Binary rapped on the door, Twilight opened it. "I'm going to assume this was your fault?" Binary tried to be taken aback "Why would you assume such a thing?" He looked at Twilight's irritated facial expression "Yeah, it was me..." "Should I also assume you don't know how to fix it?" Binary was actually taken aback by this "You're being awfully stern today Twilight." Twilight sighed "I can help you, it's not like I have anything else to do, you know, with my library collapsing in on itself." Binary smiled "Oh thank you thank you thank you!" He hugged Twilight. "Don't we have a universe to save?" Binary's eyes widened as he remembered what had had come to Twilight for, he then released his grip, smiled, and stood in the most heroic pose he could. He yelled "Allons-y!" They both ran towards the town centre, where the rest of Twilight's friends were gathered. Pinkie was the first to speak "Twi, you're here!!" Rarity the second "What's happening? My boutique is collapsing!" Fluttershy the third "Umm...I don't want to interrupt but..umm..My animals are really scared." Rainbow Dash spoke next "All the clouds a disappearing, we've got rain scheduled for today!" Lastly, Applejack spoke "What do y'all think is happenin'?" Twilight answered all the questions and worries "Binary tried to bend light, so now the entire fabric of the universe is collapsing." The group was silent, until Pinkie spoke "That's what you wanted my light projector for?" Binary finally spoke "Yes, I did. It was an experiment, I didn't know it would rip apart the universe!" Suddenly, and out of nowhere, which are two important factors in everyone's bewilderment, a being appeared. It looked like a pony, only there was something a bit off. Maybe the fangs, but it could have also been the way that light bent around it at it's own accord. The universe didn't like the idea of it. The being spoke "Finally! I have entered a universe! I can now feast upon it's energy!" It jumped to a rip in the space-time continuum and began eating away at whatever was inside it. Binary stared at the being "Wha...What are you?" The being seemed polite enough to answer "I am a devourer of worlds!" He bellowed in a triumphant manner, he then added "Not a destroyer of worlds, I just eat what's left over by the destroyers." Everyone stared at Binary, Twilight said "So that makes...You, a...Destroyer of worlds?" The devourer was confused "Wait, what, what did he do?" Twilight answered before Binary could "He tried to bend light, thus disrupting the equilibrium of the universe!" The devourer looked at Binary "So, bending light destroyed this universe? Not some kind of epic battle between good and evil?" Binary spoke "When you put it that way...It does sound kind of boring doesn't it." The devourer looked slightly depressed "So that's why none of the others turned up..." Binary looked quizzical "What do you mean?" "Well, the more epic the reason for the disruption of a universe's existence, the better the universe's energy." "So, this tastes disgusting?" "Basically, yeah..." "Oh." "Yes mortal being, Oh." Binary stood in front of the being awkwardly "So you're saying that this universe is a really bad one to eat right now?" "Yes." "Could we possibly fix it then?" "Yes." Twilight perked up "How!?" "I can seal the rips in space and time with any energy I have left." Binary wasn't convinced "Which I assume isn't a lot?" "No, I do have enough energy to seal a few universes in me." "Well could you? Please?" The devourer looked in disbelief "Why should I do that?" Binary started his attempt at persuasion "This universe tastes disgusting, right?" "Right." "And there's no point in you eating it, right?" "Right." "So, if you sealed it, the universe would have another chance to have an epic battle, and then..." Binary made a gesture with his hoof, prompting the devourer to finish his sentence. "It would taste better!" Binary clapped his hooves. The devourer smiled "I'll get right on it! Also, when this assumed event happens, make sure I'm the first devourer who gets any!" Binary smiled "If it's within my lifespan, I will" The devourer smiled "I like you mortal, I will put you on my list of things I will not devourer when we run out of universe energy." Twilight spoke "What about me? And maybe some of his friends as well?" She pointed to her friends. The devourer rolled his eyes "Yeah, sure, why not?" Several Hours Later The devourer was sealing the last rip. It had occurred to him that it would be difficult to know when this universe was going to break again. Before he left he started this conversation with Binary "Is there any way you could contact me through reality?" Binary thought "We could try magic?" "Good idea!" He smiled "I just received a psychic thought from my friends! A universe is collapsing from to from a massive black hole! I call dibs on the Milky Way!" He yelled the last part to himself. He proceeded to jump out of the rip in space and time, he sealed it behind him. Binary sighed "Well, that was interesting." Twilight stared at him "Never do that again." Binary laughed "Come on, what else could I possibly do that would rip apart time and space again?" he turned round, only to be face-to-face with his future self. Binary looked down "Damn it..."
The InternetTwilight was keeping a close eye on Binary, she was there to make sure he didn't step out of hoof. Binary was feeling intruded upon, more so, he felt untrusted, did she honestly think he would almost destroy the universe again? He did feel tempted though, it would probably teach her a lesson, except it wouldn't, because it would prove her right. Binary slumped in his chair, he didn't have any ideas. He didn't realise how hard it is to remember the past when colourful talking equines are now your world. Not that he missed humanity, it polluted and fought with itself, he couldn't help but think what might happen to Equestria in the future, seeing as it was entering some sort of half-technological, half-renaissance period. Binary thought of a pun, re-neigh-ssance. He laughed at it, then stopped once Twilight started glaring at him. "What were you laughing at?" She inquired sternly. "Just a, um, pun..." Binary was feeling awkward now. "And what was the pun?" The sternness in her voice was replaced fully with intrigue. "Umm...Well.." Binary stammered "Come on!" Her voice was now filled with playfulness. "It's...It's really quite terrible..." Binary was feeling incredibly embarrassed, about as embarrassed as someone who had just forgotten the name of the person they were talking to. "Go on, I promise I won't insult you" She beamed widely. He sighed "Okay then. You know the word renaissance?" Twilight nodded slowly. "Well, I thought up a pun." He paused slightly for effect "Re-neigh-ssance." There was no effect. Twilight stared at Binary for a few seconds, smiled, and then started laughing "That's so terrible! I, ahem, mean...It was great!" Binary felt insulted, and more so after she tried to cover up her insulting his joke "Can we just get on with the inventing?" "Sure, why not." Twilight was still thing not to laugh at how terrible the pun was, she was trying to laugh at the pun, but was failing. She didn't want to feel more guilty than she already was. Several hours passed as Binary drew ideas on a whiteboard, Twilight pointed out the dangers and rubbed off the idea and Binary slumped in his chair thinking. After the several hours of this tedious thinking Binary finally remembered something. "I know!" He yelled in great triumph. "What?" There was no excitement in Twilight's voice, he had said that three times already. "You know how you have those computers." Twilight nodded. "And you know how they can play games." Twilight nodded. "Well, I have an idea. We won't require disks, we can make this thing called 'The Internet', it will link all the computers together, so ponies can play these games together, they can talk to each other through this 'Internet' and they can even download things off the 'Internet' so they can play more games and stuff!" He smiled ecstatically. Twilight stared at him for a few minutes, thinking of all the ways it could destroy the universe. She thought of none. "That's a great idea! Ponies will be able to talk to each other!" She stopped and thought "How does it work?" Binary's smile faded "I...I have no idea..." Days passed, the birds sang loudly and annoyingly, the wind blew furiously and catastrophically. Binary and Twilight were working on their plans for 'The Internet'. "What if it has a microchip here?" Twilight inquired. "That's not how a microchip works." Binary replied. "What about there?" "No." "There?" "No." "How about...There!" "No! You pointed there 2 hours ago!" "Well I'm sorry! Why don't we just put one right there!" She swung her hoof angrily at the board. "Hey! That might work!" Twilight looked at the floor. "Are you sure?" "Yeah! Completely." "How?" "Oh, I knew that would work the whole time." Twilight stared in disbelief "So why didn't you just say so!?" "I didn't know where it was exactly!" Twilight gripped her hair somehow and pulled at it angrily, she stopped because it hurt. When she looked up again Binary was already attaching something to the machine. It was a towering machine, large gears and pipes were bolted across it, along with several touch-pad screens and large neon lights. It was all a bit garish to be honest. Binary wanted to go for a steam and cyber-punk look, They contrasted horribly and the made the whole thing look like a plumbing shop and an Apple store had crashed into each-other. Not that anyone in Equestria knew of Apple, they just accepted that's what it looked like. "So it's going to work?" There was a large amount of question in her voice." Binary laughed "Of course it's going to work, I just need to plug this wire into here!" He plugged it in. ... Nothing happened. ... Nothing continued to happen. ... Nothing got bored and left, so nonentity had to do it's best to stand in for it. ... Then something happened.
The 4th Wall"So... What happened?" Twilight enquired in an inquisitive fashion. "I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure" Binary replied with uncertainty filling his voice. "And also, where in Equestria are we?" Twilight glanced around, suddenly realising they were not where they just were, which is usually a very distressing thing for sentient beings. "If I knew the answers to any of these questions, I assure you I would explain. Unfortunately for us, I don't, so stop asking!" He looked up "Hey, what's that over there?" Binary ran into the white void that surrounded him, seeing some kind of black monolith. He approached it, circled it, then sat on what was probably the floor. Twilight caught up with him "Wha-What is it?" "Are they..." "Huh?" "There are multiple objects..." Twilight noticed this "So there are..." "Wait!" Binary bolted upright "Those are words!" "Are they?" "Yes! Look, that one says 'Twilight', is that you?" Binary sat down again, with some kind of expression on his face. Silence. Then Twilight broke the silence with an almighty "Wha-buh?" "Wha-buh indeed, Twilight..." Binary muttered "Wha-buh indeed..." "Why do you have to be so weird?" "Excuse me?" "Nothing." "No! You said something, tell me what you said!" Binary hated when people did this to him. "I-I didn't say anything." "You did!" "Didn't" "Did!" "Didn't" "Why are we acting like 7-year olds!?" Binary yelled into the white beyond. "You started it." "Did not!" "Did too!" "AAGGHH!" Binary flailed his arms around, blatantly showing his irritation. Unfortunately this is not easy for ponies, they tend to need all four of their limbs on the floor at all times to keep balance, and flailing doesn't help with that either. Binary picked his face up off the floor, not in the literal sense, I'm just mocking him. "Ow..." Binary rubbed his nose "Hey, what's that down there!?" Binary looked down, past the floor which looked like everything else around him, except all of the gigantic text looming over him in a completely non-malevolent way, as text tends to do. "There's more text down there!" "What does it say?" Twilight inquired inquiringly. "It says '"What does it say?" Twilight inquired inquiringly.'" "That's what I just said." "Yeah, thanks for pointing that out, I didn't know that, thanks for the information," Binary used as much sarcasm in the words as possible, just as Twilight used as much force as possible in her punch. Binary spent the next few seconds on the floor, cradling his mouth. After a few minutes he stood up "Ugh, why is my face getting so injured today..." "That's not important, what's important is that we find out where we are." "H-Hey, what's that?" Binary pointed in a direction often considered as you, unless, of course, you're reading this story from behind your computer screen, in which case I don't know which direction he's pointing, sorry. Twilight looked at where Binary was pointing "I think it's a person..." "Why is he staring this way?" "Maybe he's reading the words?" Binary sat down again, it seemed to be a recurring theme for him today. Several minutes of sitting and staring happened until a portal opened and a pink pony pulled both Binary and Twilight through it.
