“Y’know, Twilight, it’s almost funny. You’ve done this sort of thing a few times before… just on a smaller scale. You get overwhelmed by what you think of as a huge problem and you go completely nuts trying to find a way to fix it, but in the end it turns out there was never really a problem to begin with and everything had been under control all along.”

“WHY DO YOU OPPOSE ORDER?”

Scootaloo sighed. “I don’t. You’re just too caught up trying to solve the problem in front of you to see anything else.”

“WHAT EXISTS OUTSIDE OF THE CHAOS THAT UNDERPINS EVERYTHING?”

“There is no chaos consuming reality! There never was. Everything is in perfect working order, and you’re just too busy staring at individual spinning cogs to see the mesh of teeth connecting them all together. Every event causes another, each gear turning the next. Every one of them has to be exactly where it is out of necessity. If any part was out of order, the whole thing would be broken. But it’s not, because none of them are. The wheels keep spinning and the world keeps turning. Do you understand?”

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“Did you hit your head or something, Twilight? Nothing you’re saying makes any sense at all!”

“How can you SAY that? You love Applejack, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah… but we’re both mares, Twilight. We couldn’t have a foal even if we wanted one. And I still have no idea who this filly you keep going on about is. None of the Crusaders are pegasus ponies.”

“She’s your biggest fan!”

“I’m sorry, Twilight, but you’re losing me here. As far as I know, there is no Scootaloo – there never was.”

Twilight’s left eye twitched.

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Uncountable eons later, the universe came to an end. It’s somewhat impossible for that to really have any meaning, though. Matter and energy can’t be created or destroyed. The universe can’t ever end or begin. All the matter and all the energy always were and always will be. Except that they weren’t and they won’t. Paradoxically, the universe does have both a beginning and an end. But if you put enough pressure on two points...

As reality came to its inevitable and impossible conclusion, the universe reached its inevitable and impossible birth. Maybe this time, Twilight would understand. Changing history is impossible, but so are a lot of other things.

An Explanation Is In The Comments!

Comment #360 on this story (belongs to chapter 24, the last one) contains the explanation, what are you reading this for?