Divergence - As a quick recap... · 7:44pm Sep 9th, 2018
Hello all,
Had a suggestion to do a refresher of previous stories since it's been a year-and-a-half since the end of Substitute. And I agree with the suggestion. As such, I'm going to briefly revisit the previous stories. This post is intended for people who have read the previous two stories and, as such, there will be unmarked spoilers ahead (I say this because some of you may have found this story and its prequels today, and if so, go read those stories first instead).
Here we go.
Feedback
Twilight Sparkle dies to an entity known as the Nameless. Sunset Shimmer spots her within the crystal ball, an object that looks back nine days in time. Moreover, she along with Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, all spot Sunset time traveling in to give Twilight some notes. After establishing contact with Twilight and learning of her apparent fate, Sunset realizes that she herself is destined to time travel thus starting the push to save Twilight. They work out who goes where and Spike does a trick using the hourglass to pass information along.
Everypony save Sunset and Spike scatter to the winds in search of stones, objects containing information which Twilight may conceivably use. Sunset and Spike stay in the tower and eventually realize that the crystal ball actually looks into an alternate Equestria which is nine days staggered. After blowing up, Sunset cools off and eventually speaks with Celestia, reconciling in the process. Sunset returns the next day and acquires the time travel spell, and then she later sits down and, via the use of logic, concludes that there are infinitely many layered worlds all connected via the crystal ball. She comes up with a plan to use this infinite to complete the spell that will save Twilight. The next day, the five return from their journeys having collected stones with varying degrees of success. Sunset spends the day compiling the information she gets from the stones. She also invents a spell that allows the transmitting of images across crystal ball layers. They eventually wrap of work and Sunset time travels but, to her dismay, her plan seems to fail.
Twilight then goes through with her original plan to simply sacrifice herself, pushing friends away in the process. Twilight reaches the chamber, leaves the crystal ball outside the door, and then goes inside, shutting the door behind her. Some time later, Pinkie Pie senses a doozy which prompts Sunset to re-examine the situation; she realizes that Twilight's own crystal ball looks at the caverns but, for the entire train of events to even be possible, it has to look at Canterlot tower. This contradiction makes her realize that they are still aren't done, and so she tries to theorize her way out of it. Spike suggests that, if The Answer exists, it would be hidden in the hourglass. At that point, a Twilight from the layer above them (i.e. nine days into the future) contacts them and confirms its existence. While future Twilight transmits the data, Sunset speaks of the apparent differences between layers and, as they talk, future Twilight reveals the existence of a visitor on the night she went to the chamber and died. The problem is, however, that visitor was apparently her. Future Twilight works out that it was herself and that she is the one that fixes the ball viewing the caverns so that it shows the tower. She does so, and as Sunset watches the same event in her own crystal ball, she realizes only a Twilight who is eventually saved can do that and that the fact it happens in one world means it happens in all worlds, including their own. Thus, Sunset and the group go down to the chamber and successfully extract Twilight from the seal. After recooperating at the hospital, Sunset speaks with future Twilight and ties up some loose ends relating to the events that transpired and also setting up the placement of The Answer for future layers. And then, after heartfelt goodbyes at the train station, Sunset leaves Equestria.
Substitute
Sunset is summoned to Equestria where she meets with Starlight Glimmer. The two of them discuss several things including the apparent existence of a new alicorn named Adamantine who comes to Ponyville to work and buy incredible amounts of grocery. Celestia discusses missing ponies from around Equestria. Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends are investigating portals which apparently lead to alternate versions of Equestria; specifically that they lead to the Equestrias created in Twilight's battle against Starlight. Sunset and Starlight meet Adamantine the next day and help her with groceries. Adamantine reveals that the groceries go into a concoction known as unstew and that it does to mouths to feed. In Canterlot, Twilight and the others meet with the princesses and realize that these timelines have existed for some time and, apparently, all the timelines from Twilight's skirmish are there. Later that day, Sunset and Starlight arrive in Canterlot to receive the crystal ball from Princess Luna. The two board a train to Ponyville where they establish to future Twilight via the crystal ball. Future Twilight guides them through a battle across the train as they attempt to stop it from going through a portal, with their foes being entities known as unponies. Using a combination of battle tactics and screwings with causality, the latter of which brings Princess Celestia into the fray, they succeed. Everyone gathers and learns that Future Twilight is trying to prevent a disaster. They go to grill the unponies where it comes out Adamantine is their queen. Queen Adamantine shows them to the unpony cavern where they learn about their starvation predicament. And then Adamantine takes them to see the Great Benefactor, the unponies' former source of food. Said Great Benefactor turns out to be the Nameless.
Later on, they discuss solutions. The ask the unponies questions, during which they reveal that the Nameless disappeared in every timeline at the same time. Future Twilight says that everything is linked somehow. After trying several methods of fixing the problem with the unponies, they decide to go save the other timelines and, in doing so, recruit more for the cause. They solve the Discord and Nightmare Moon timelines, reforming them in the process. Sunset leaves to go recruit her alternate timeline selves while Starlight starts the liberated timelines on the unpony problem. Twilight and ther friends then defeat Chrysalis (during which Discord teachs Twilight the portal spell), Tirek, and Sombra. They then return to sort through several unpony documents from the other timelines (which Adamantine returns later that night and reads a portal spell off of them). Sunset and Starlight (with some breif help from Adamantine) are working on examining the stones in the tower. There, Adamantine reveals that she has the ability to see inside the Nameless' seal. She then does so, sees all missing ponies there, and realizes her part in the train of events. She travels to the seal in the wasteland version of Equestria (where Twilight and her friends are conversaing with alternate timeline Adamantines) and realizes a plan to switch the bodies of the captured Equestrians with those of the unponies, ensuring their survival.
Twilight and friends leave to work on a counterspell which leave Starlight and Sunset to work with Future Twilight. Sunset then realizes that the seal spans all timelines (meaning there was only ever one seal and thus one single Namless) and she also realizes that the unponies are stones. Starlight and Sunset then try putting together methods to save the stones, during which Sunset tries to access the infinite. She succeeds but the infinite gives her nothing definite. Sunset realizes that saving the unponies is an impossible task. The alternate Sunset Shimmers, who Sunset recruited, even try building a machine to sustain the stones themselves which ends up not working. Because Twilight's new body is composed of stones, she is able to block Adamantine's spell but her own spell won't go through until it either resolves or is canceled. While Twilight and company battle Adamantine for the marbles, Sunset, Starlight, and Future Twilight discuss what to do that that point. Sunset convinces them that this train of events is the best outcome they can ever achieve and they decide to let it be. Adamantine is then defeated and the unponies die. Adamantine herself survives and is locked away in Tartarus.
Awesome, this was very helpful in jogging my memory. Time to dive in to Divergence!