After my minor meltdown, I send both Derpy and Bear away to perform their duty to the Lab, and I use my time alone to satisfy my thirst with… one of the million apple juice boxes in the fridge, to study the clock in my room, and to find a calendar that, luckily enough, has the dates already passed crossed off. I wonder if Bear got into that habit on account of her apparent alcoholism, which might cause her to forget the date? Thankfully it appears that this Equine-dominated… Attractor Field-? Somehow that term doesn’t seem appropriate to this phenomenon: An Attractor Field pulls major events towards certain inevitable conclusions represented on the Divergence Meter by the number before the decimal, but this-?… This alteration is… a Deviation Field? Nah. A Variation Tree? Hmm, getting closer… Variation Sphere? -Web? -Net? No. I rather avoid any (accidental) Internet parallelism…

“Variation Branch” it is, then. I think it’s already starting to grow on me!

Thankfully, it appears that the Equine Variation Branch uses exactly the same time-keeping methods as the Human Variation Branch: 24-hour day divided into two 12-hour sections, each hour being 60 minutes, and a 365-day year with 7-day weeks all divided into the same 12 months with the same number of days in each month. Good. Very good, given that I’m going to need to be able to keep reference points intact while I hop about the World Lines…

… -to what end? For what purpose do I invent time travel (again), given what happened on the 0 and 1 Attractor Fields? Wait. I may be assuming too much here. Given what just “moved” me to this Variation Branch (it’s really the only explanation), what’s saying I’m the one that invents time travel?… However, if I’m not the one that invents it, then how did/will the Divergence Meter come into my possession?

… More to the immediate point: why did Derpy heave this giant hourglass down here? -and why do we even have it?! The thing is seriously impractical… although it does, at least, seem large enough to be able to calculate an actual hour. Language has already been seriously handicapped in talking about time and time travel; there’s no need to be going about misnomer-ing things! As I walk around the hourglass, studying it, I grumble silently to myself about the uselessness of language, blaming it for restricting me from being able to effectively communicate my brilliance. It’s only then I notice a slip of paper that had been kept from flapping away by being tucked so safely under the Divergence Meter that I think I wouldn’t have been able to see that corner of paper if Derpy hadn’t turned it around to face the bed on which I had laying…

Hououin Kyouma,

I’m sure you have a lot of questions about the Variation Branch (I’m certain you will have already come up with the term by the time you read this) you’ve found yourself thrust into by some random mad scientist wannabe idiot back in the Human Variation Branch, but don’t worry. You’ll learn in time, especially after you find yourself with the most powerful and understanding ally there is next week. In the meantime, have fun and get to know the ponies (Yes, ponies, not “equines” as I’m certain you’ve been think of them as) around you in this place called Ponyville. Yes, Ponyville. Don’t think too hard about it. Just remember you’ll need them, and you’ll all have more important things to worry about soon enough.

Anyway, I'm also certain you’re curious about the device you find before you—Yes, “device”! It only looks like a simple hourglass. This is what I call the Time Tuner, and as you might suspect, it works slightly differently from both the Phone Microwave and the Time Leap Machine. Anything, including living things, placed on top of the hourglass when it is spun will be sent back in time without any worry about gellification. Obviously, sending pure information, such as D-Mails, using this method is impossible.

The only exception is the Divergence Meter: Using the Divergence Meter with the Time Tuner will send everything back in time (not exactly, but. Well, you’ll understand soon enough), similar to the Time Leap Machine, except without the memories-being-sent-back-in-time “thing”, but you obviously don’t need to worry about such issues with Reading Steiner! Why does the Divergence Meter work this way? Magic, most likely. First thing to know about this Variation Branch: Get used to that answer; you’ll be hearing a lot about “magic”, and it IS real.

Trust Your Eyes,
Time Turner

P.S. — One half-turn of the hourglass is equal to one day.

Another message from my future self… At least this time I’m actually able to read it immediately instead of going through a bunch of World Lines, crossing and recrossing the Divergence Barrier between two Attractor Fields in order to give myself the drive needed to develop the technology needed to send a video message back fifteen years! Why the discrepancy, though? Could it merely be the fundamental difference between sending a D-Mail versus using the Time Tuner? The Time Tuner is incapable of sending information… but that would not exclude the method of sending a message in a physical form, such as a letter. Fundamentally, a letter would operate like a D-Mail, with an “immediate effect” in shifting World Lines from my perspective in “the present”… but a letter presents obvious difficulties that a D-Mail wouldn’t encounter, most of which, at the moment, are wide variables that I can’t depend on acting a certain way when I need them to, but it looks like I’m going to need to use the Time Tuner in some way soon anyway!

I put a forehoof to my forehead as I sigh, and almost immediately I can’t help but pull it away and stare at the… “sole” (I’m pretty sure they’re not called soles on equi- ponies, but whatever) of the hoof. Part of me still doesn’t want to believe that that is part of my body: my hoof. It doesn’t want to accept this pony form…

“I need fresh air.” I can’t help but notice the slightest waver of my voice. Fatigue. Heat. Stuffy Apartment Air. I pull together these excuses in my mind as I begin to descend the enclosed stairway down from the Labs—all explanations except… that I’m actually-… that I might not be accepting-… adapting to-… recognizing-… admitting that-… “THIS IS MY NEW REALITY!” I cry out to the now-revealed sky when my first forehoof—shivering tense—touches dirt.

“‘New reality’?” Comes an annoyed and rough, but feminine voice. “Well, at least you’re looking better, so you should be able to get back to work and back to paying your rent, right?” I know that voice, even though it’s changed… So, Mr. Braun is now Ms. Braun? Bringing my head back down, I see rows and rows of little tufts of what looks like grass in a plot of land that is undeniably farm soil; this makes me raise a brow. A television store becomes a farm? Why?… Finally, I turn to where the voice had come from, and see (surprise) another pony, this one of yellow-orange fur with an orange mane.

I should probably say something. “Greetings, uh… landlord! -Ms. Braun!” I add without much thought, but it’s not difficult to see the intended affectionate nickname is well-received… moreso than usual, anyway.

“What was that?! ‘Braun’!?” Her steam easily cools, though, with naught but a sigh. “Never mind. I’ll just take that as another sign your well, since you never call me by my name, Golden Harvest, anyway, but ‘Ms. Braun’ is new…” She turns away, apparently intent on not pursuing an answer to “Why that name?” It is nice to know my idiosyncrasies are more-or-less identical, so-

“What is that?!” I can’t help but call out upon seeing Ms. Harvest’s (naked) behind being presented to me. I rush up to shamelessly examine the blemish. “Is that some kind of tattoo? How does one get the tattoo to grow into the fur? More to the point-…” Here I look away from the hindquarters and up to meet the annoyed face of Golden. “-why would one get a tattoo of a carrot? -and on one’s behind, of all places?”

“That is not a tattoo—that is my Cutie Mark,” she huffs, “and it is a carrot because growing carrots is my special talent! Honestly! You’re acting as if you haven’t seen it a million times before as you pass me by, laughing like a loon more than half of time, to go up to your apartment!” Once again, she turns away and begins tending to the tufts of grass, leaving me to ponder the implications of what she had just said—“what she had just said” being a lot more than the words she had uttered.

“Cutie Mark”? “Special talent”? I crane my neck around to see on my own buttocks a tattoo of-… a Cutie Mark in the shape of an hourglass. Something relating to time as my “special talent” is no surprise… but I wonder how I could have missed such tattoo-like markings on Derpy and Bear? Also, pony-tattoos apparently are a thing, somehow.

Wait. Carrot Cutie Mark. Growing carrots.

“Frurah-hahahaha!” Carrots! A CRT store became a CaRroT farm! Golden Harvest looks up at my laughter, but quickly enough gets back to work with a shake of her head. Boring. That’s what comes of too much mad scientist laughter, I suppose. Resisting a shrug, I turn around to go backup to-

I screech to a halt. Scratch that…

A tiny…—well, the only word for it- her is “unicorn”—unicorn is standing in my way. So we’ve got ponies, ponies with wings, and now ponies with horns. What’s next? Ponies with wings AND horns? Ponies hybridized with fish or bugs or something like that? Ponies made out of diamonds or something equally ridiculous? The… finly (Is that the right word?) before me has a washed-out purple coat—poor thing—blond hair, and shimmering golden eyes—at least she has those eyes to make up for that coat! Looking at her for only a moment, I make a quick assumption. “Nae! Good afternoon!” I greet cheerfully. Children: Hououin Kyouma’s only weakness! I can’t help but act more normal than usual towards them, and it seems this extends to… fools? No… Foals! That sounds right.

“‘Nae?’” She tilts her head slowly to the side; I can practically see her trying to figure me out. Ha! Impossible, foal! Give it up! “What’s that mean?”

I chuckle good-naturedly, leaning back in a faux-ominous way. “Why, it means-sss…” I jolt forward and point with a forehoof. “-you! What else would it mean?” Now that I think about it, with no fingers, it kind of feels like I’m “pointing” with all four hooves all the time, now… Oh! That feels weird! Stopthinkingaboutit. Stopthinkingaboutit. Stopthinkingaboutit!… Gaaaaaaah!

“‘Nae’ means… ‘me’?” She cutely tilts her head the other way, then straightens up only to look down as if she might find answers in the dust as she scratches at the top of her head. After a moment of this—No interruptions from Ms. Braun? I like this version of him already!—she looks back up at me. “-but ‘Nae’ doesn’t sound anything like ‘Little Carrot’. At least ‘Dinky’ makes sense as a nickname!”

“Dinky”, huh? I’m going to go ahead and hazard a guess that’s Derpy’s usual nicknaming at work! I lean forward to whisper in relative privacy, which Dinky leans back away from slightly, but she doesn’t truly retreat. “Yes, it doesn’t make sense, which is why it makes such a perfect secret codename. A codename is different from a nickname, and one particular difference is that this codename is for you and me only; you are not to tell anyone else this name, or even tell them you have a codename at all, okay?” Pulling back again, I widen my eyes significantly.

Dinky breaks into a grin and nods enthusiastically, then suddenly turns serious and leans forward; I, obedient, lower my head until my ear is at her muzzle. “What’s your codename gon’na be, though?”

I let out a good few chuckles before answering in a return whisper. “How about… something like Okabe?”

She giggles as we pull back again, hoof raised to her muzzle as if to keep them in. “That doesn’t make any sense!”

I grin wider, almost a smirk. “Which is why-…” I prompt.

“-it’s perfect!” She throws her forehooves up as if in cheer.

I nod, then immediately a crick in my neck prompts me to stretch, and in doing so I see six ponies, four in addition to Derpy and Bear, of all kinds approaching from a path that leads into what seems to be some kind of suburb. Oh, right… I was so distracted I didn’t even notice that it seems I not only don’t live in a city, but nowhere near a city… What am I going to do?! I’m a scientist; I don’t know anything about farm life! “Well, Dinky, I have things to talk about with the Lab members, so until next time!” Smiling goofily, I run off back up to the apartment before she can respond.

- - - -

Minutes later, the seven of us are seated in a circle, cramped into the living/dining/kitchen room. In addition to Derpy and Bear, there’s a regular pony with a cream-ish coat, curly hair in pink and dark blue stripes, cyan eyes and a Cutie Mark of what seem to be wrapped candies or perhaps lozenges; a light blue unicorn with darker (but not “dark”) blue eyes, hair striped white and dark blue in a way that makes me think of oral health products, and her Cutie Mark is identical to mine (I have a feeling who she might be…); then there’s a winged pony with golden-yellow fur, hair and eyes that are the exact same light blue, and a trio of raindrops for a Cutie Mark; and finally another unicorn, this one of a pink coat, purple hair with highlights, lighter, but not by much, purple eyes, and a Cutie Mark of a three gems. Every single one of them are female, leaving me to wonder which one could possibly be Ruka, and whether in this universe she wishes to be a man- a male pony, that is—that would be “stallion”, I believe—or a female that wishes to be male.

In silence, with all six staring at me, I contemplate wondering how I could possibly figure out their names and who is who from the Human Variation Branch. Looking at each pony in turn, from left to right, there’s Bear, gold winged pony, pink unicorn, probably-Christina unicorn, cream regular pony, and Derpy to my right. Bear/Daru to my right, with Derpy/Mayushii to my left…

Probably-Christina opens her mouth, but I point at her hold up a hoof to cut her off. “Hold it!” I wave a hoof about the circle to indicate the disorganization. “We can’t have a Lab meeting like this! We need to sit according to our Lab numbers: zero-zero-two to my left, zero-zero-three to her left, and so on until zero-zero-seven is on my right!” I order, pointing at each position as I designate them; Probably-Christina huffs, but they all know that I’m not to be argued with and begin rearranging themselves.

In the end, I have Derpy to my left, then Bear, then no-longer-probably Christina, then the pink unicorn as Moeka, then the golden winged pony as Ruka, then finally the cream regular pony as Faris. Jeez! At least with Daru and Ruka we had at least some semblance of diversity! Although like this, not counting myself, we have two of each kind of pony… -each kind that I know of so far, anyway. On to objective two: Get names. Shouldn’t be too hard; I got Nae to tell me her name pretty easily!

At the thought, I let out a few good low chuckles to prime them; sure enough I hear a few intakes of breath and tiny scrapings of hooves against wood as they listen to the sound that never spells anything good happening. “Christina!” I suddenly call out, now actually pointing at her, the blue unicorn. “Please go over the minutes of the last Lab meeting and give me a briefing on anything happening or plan to happen soon that has caught your attention.”

“‘Minutes’? We don’t keep minutes, or do you not recall when you forbade their recording incase any of our houses or the Lab itself was burglarized and the minutes stolen?” The way she pulls he chin up and closes her eyes so condescendingly is so Christina that I have to catch a sigh of admiration at the sight. Blast! Of course I would’ve done such a thing! “As for ‘interesting’,” she says to the ceiling, “Ponyville is as Ponyville has always been, except for the upcoming preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration next week, which the Apple Family is holding a reunion on the same day, I’ve heard.” Apple Family? Who are they? I want your name, Christina!

“Oo! That reminds Derpy of something!” She cries, launching a hoof into the air as she flaps her wings from enthusiasm. Wings. Yes. Being a winged pony certain suits Mayushii.

“Go on.” I permit with a nod.

“Everyday when I go to Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie asks me about you and if you’re getting well because she want to throw you a ‘Congratulations on getting better!’ party!” She cheers, jumping into the air and hovering just under the low ceiling, but soon drops down with a look of sheepish apology. “Oh! -when you feel good enough for a party, of course.” Pinkie? Why do I get the feeling I’m going to learn the name of everyone in Ponyville before figuring out who these ponies are!… I suppose it is my own fault for have the eccentricity of never using anyone’s real name anyway, along with the fact everyone here thinks I know their names.

“M-hm…” I rub the bottom of muzzle (Is that spot still called a “chin”?) as I contemplate this. “Well, I do believe I am quite well enough to attend such a party.” Derpy cheers at this. “That can be handled after this meeting; I’m curious about this ‘Summer Sun Celebration’. What does it actually entail?”

For a moment, all six stare as if I had asked them to explain why some ponies have wings or horns—which, as far as I can tell, is considered perfectly normal. “Uh…” Bear begins. “It’s… a festival celebrating the Summer Solstice.” I already guessed that… “Every year a different city is chosen for Princess Celestia to visit, and this year she’s going to be in Ponyville to raise the Sun!” The implication that this is supposedly some great honor isn’t lost on me, but it is ignored.

“WHAT?!” I can’t help it; I can’t just let go of such a ridiculous statement, one which I won’t even grace with the title: unscientific. “You-… you think Princess Celestia-”—Whoever that is—“-raises the Sun?! H- H-” I can’t get the question out; it’s beyond all reasoning!—There can be no “how”! “Magic” is one thing, Future-Okabe, but a physical Sun-God?! I think I’d mention something like that to my past self!

“Are you sure you’re alright?” For my immediate right, pony-Faris’s eyes scrunch up with concern as she raises a hoof to my forehead, at which I cross my eyes to look at and huff with impatience. She soon enough pulls her hoof back, satisfied I’m suffering from no fever-madness, but now only adding confusion to her concern for that fact. “-or were you never taught that it’s Princess Celestia that raises the Sun and Moon every day and night?”

No one’s contracting her, and they all seem confused as to why I would so suddenly say this… Unfortunately, this leaves me with only one option: Retreat! “Ha! Yes! Of course! Heh hehr… My mistake, Faris.” No one even blinks at the name. “Something must have got knocked loose in there.” I say, tapping the side of my head.

Predictably, Christina doesn’t let the opportunity for a jab at me to pass her by. “That’s not surprising, considering nothing was bolted down securely in the first place.” She smirks, helping dissipate the atmosphere of concern. “Please don’t tell me this all you called this ‘emergency’ meeting for? -to ask about nonexistent minutes and upcoming events?”

At this, without even waiting for an answer, Moeka rises and heads for the door with her very identifying gliding stride. “I… have work to get back to…” She mutters.

“Moeka, what I’m looking for are clues.” I answer, suddenly serious, getting Moeka to stop. “I received a message from my future self telling me of an impending event which I will need to use the Time Tuner for.” I explain, waving a hoof towards the hall down which the hourglass remains; my assertion garners no skepticism—yet visible, anyway—from the Lab members.

“You talking about that ridiculously sized hourglass Derpy brought out?” Bear asks, his serious face matching mine.

“Exactly!” I declare, standing. Everything is so much easier when they believe me! “I never gave Derpy those instructions- I mean, I haven’t yet. I will, when I travel back in time from some yet-to-be-known point in the future and give her those instructions, but that’s… in the future.” At this I can already see the confusion start to grow again in Derpy’s and Ruka’s faces. “That hourglass-which-is-no-mere-hourglass will be critical in the saving of… the world!” -or so I’m guessing.

Everyone looks between themselves, then, unbelievably, back to me with… various expressions of humor, except Moeka, but that doesn’t mean much of anything given she almost always has that flat expression. No! They don’t believe me after all! I assume that, if anything happened like what I experienced back in the Human Variation Branch also happened here, then I never adequately explained all the time travel I did to rescue Mayushii and Christina… Damn me!

“At least it was nice to see you’re well…” winged-pony-Ruka amputates the silence with her shy whispering, and her statement is met with nods and murmurings of agreement and happiness. Fine. I am well, so for now I’ll be doing my own research around town. Part of that research includes listening very closely to everyone’s goodbyes, and I at least learn that Ruka is Raindrops and Faris is, at least according to Derpy, Bon Bon. Walking down with them to wave goodbye, Bon Bon informs that she’ll be telling Pinkie Pie I’m well enough for a party, and Moeka, stepping under the doorframe of the farm’s front door, stares for a couple of seconds. Perhaps I won’t be all on my own in this research. I give her a small normal-ish smile that she returns just before stepping out of sight.

Nothing interesting happens for the rest of the day, for given my inexplicably swift recovery, Derpy insists I stay home for the rest of the day just in case, and I oblige her. That night, as I slip into bed, I glance out the window and notice the rising moon in this Variation Branch has an image of a pony—a unicorn, it seems—on it. I close my eyes, chuckling at what Bon Bon had said about the supposedly physical god Princess Celestia and my own idle thoughts about how the shift into this Variation Branch might have somehow caused a different pattern of asteroid impacts on the moon.