They opened their eyes. Technically, they didn't have eyes, with no body to speak of on a physical sen—

"Excuse me." Twibright poked at their immaterial form experimentally. "Is this part of fixing it?"

Watcher turned their attention from the infinite to the very finite. There was exactly one of her. She was in his realm, where she did not belong. Her confused expression gave away that she was likely to be of little help in explaining why. He pushed past her, back into her world, and then promptly pulled her along as well.

"Did we... finish it? Is everything fixed?" She glanced around herself, but it was all the same. The only difference was the lack of that crack winding through everything.

Everypony just walked along as if nothing had happened. They ignored Watcher. They ignored Twibright.

Watcher knew why he was ignored. He was watching, and not touching. He was not of the world. He had no body to perceive. That didn't explain why Twibright was being entirely disregarded. It wasn't simply her, it was the whole village, or so he thought. Until he saw Pinkie bouncing down the road, looking at every building, every pony, then moving on.

"There you are." She pronked closer, tail and mane bouncing. "I wanted to say good luck before you left. Good thing you came back."

Twibright blinked at Pinkie's words. "You're not making any sense."

"Yeah, bad habit of mine." She embraced Twibright suddenly. "I'm gonna miss you, but you have fun. Don't get into too much trouble, okay?"

Watcher felt an emotion rise, one they did not allow often in their formless state. Anger. "Why do you speak as if you know what you should not?"

"You know that, silly. Really, there's only one reason it could be." She blew a kiss at Watcher, making it clear she could perceive him. "I gotta go, deliveries. Be safe, Twibright!" Pinkie bounced off again.

Watcher stared at her retreating form for a long moment before looking at the confused unicorn. "I am... uncertain. But I believe that, in repairing your world, some other..." He had no hands to gesture with. "You were affected in the repair. Your world is safe, but you are removed from it. Come."

They were back in the Watcher's realm. This time, Twibright seemed a little more at ease. She looked at herself instead of her surroundings, seeing the same pony she had been. "Where are we now? Or should I say when?" She went in a tight circle. "Or maybe? Is that the right word? I'm struggling to find the right one."

Watcher considered her. "I don't know what happened, but I can assure you that we can fix it." He turned his gaze away from the world. "But, for the moment, I do believe you are stuck with me. Your world owes you a favor I don't think it will ever know, save the pink one." Watcher considered the infinite, focusing in on the world they had just come from. "Your world is mended. I can see the glue that binds it. It was done properly."

Twibright sat next to him, which was odd on several fronts. They didn't normally have a side, or a place to sit. Her mere presence required both, and it was. "I'm glad to hear that, but there has to be a way to get me back, right?"

Watcher considered. The glue would hold, of course, since she had already been a part of gluing the crack together. There was only one way she could go back. "You can live your life as if nothing ever happened."

"What?"

Watcher made their one of infinite worlds glow gently. "I can place another you here, unbothered by this event. Your place will be restored."

"That sounds lovely." She clucked her tongue against her teeth. "But doesn't fix this-me. I'm not saying not to do it, please, do. That saves a lot of ponies being upset who aren't me." She pressed a hoof to her cheek. "But leaves me with a bit of a problem."

"Your problem is small." There was a pause. "In the scale of things."

Twibright laughed with building hysterical energy. "Of course!" She waved at that infinity she couldn't even start to grasp, just to know it was larger than her by so much. "Compared to all that, I'm small, tiny." Her voice grew tight. "Nothing."

"You are something." Watcher turned their gaze on the one of many Earths, this one a bit more unique. "You saved your world. You are, as many beings could not claim, precisely one of a kind. In a bottomless sea, you are a unique grain of sand. You have my gratitude and admiration."

They placed her, at least a copy of her, back in their place. In a few short months they would meet, but not know each other. "You deserve to be remembered."

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Twibright caught a glimpse of her copy, living her life. The life she was denied.

Watcher's attention drifted free of Twibright, that matter settled. At least, in their mind it was. They viewed Ponytopia and the worlds around it, searching for places the crack could have spread, or even started. They felt certain it didn't start at Ponytopia, so finding it at such an early stage had been quite fortuitous.

"I don't think I want to be remembered. At least, not only that." Twibright swallowed thickly. "I was living a life. I. I want to live. I don't want to die yet. I have friends. Friends I don't want to give up."

Watcher ignored her, or at least tried. They had to follow the gentle traces. "If this is not addressed, your world could come into new threat." They looked away from the worlds. "And your other friends are safe. They have you."

"But that's not me!" She stomped her hoof down, feeling like she was falling away instead. "I'm me." She put both forehooves to her chest. "That I am me is the only thing I can be sure of!" Tears spilled from her confused eyes. "It's the only thing."

There. Watcher followed the trail they had found. "You are here. You are something. You are with me. Surprisingly, you still have a body. More surprisingly, it functions in this space. I didn't think it would suit a living being." They drew closer to the source of the trouble. "But ahead of us is the next stage to truly addressing things."

Twibright dried her eyes with her forelegs, then rubbed at her face. "I'm not sure what we're really doing here."

"I watch." Watcher turned their attention onto Twibright. "That is my duty. That is my purpose. You met me when I wasn't watching, a rare time when I had to act. Most worlds must play out their roles without my presence. Your world may not complete its roles, and many others are threatened. You can stay here and consider things while I fix this. Perhaps that is best for you. You can be a memory and watch, as I do."

"No." Twibright stood up, dusting herself off. "I'll go with. I don't really get any of it, but if I'm already here, I want to go."

Would that they could sigh. "You are alive. You may cease. The worlds we must visit are less kind than yours."

"That was a risk every day." She put a hoof at her chest. "The risk of being alive is the risk of it ending, and not knowing when it will be. If I can help keep my world safe, I'd rather be doing that." She sniffed, doing her best to comport herself. "Better than focusing on myself right now."

Watcher considered her for a long moment before a small nod. They reached out towards the source, grasping it. Another crack. This one was far larger, to the point that the Watcher could not see past its jagged edge. "I cannot say what awaits in this world, its surface marred and pitted. I will take on a forgettable form. You, I don't know."

Twibright walked over to him, head high despite her wet cheeks and messy fur. "I'll be fine. Just show me the way and we'll go together."

Watcher gave her the slightest of nods. Managing nods without a head was a bit of a challenge. It was more of an impression they gave, and Twibright seemed to understand. "Then we will go."

Taking hold of her, she lifted into what must have been air, since she wasn't long asphyxiated. Watcher drew them between points, going slower than usual with their cargo held as carefully as they could. Worlds swirled past them. It was too many to count, so they didn't even try. Would Twibright try? They couldn't know.

They opened their eyes to the sound of a siren leaving with a piercing wail that grew quieter by the moment. They were female that time, a slender human or human-like thing of early-adulthood. She looked around. "Twibright?"

She was unchanged, just as bright and colorful as her surroundings in that wet alleyway was not. "I'm right here." She climbed to her hooves, shaking herself off. "Where are we?"

Watcher considered it. The crack here was large. Large enough that they could not tell when it had started. They felt its power and presence, but could not find its source. "We need to scout this world." She placed her hand on Twibright's head, their furry ears poking up between her fingers. "I hope you will accept my cover that you are an expensive pet of mine."

"I mean... I don't love the idea." She made a face to show her distaste. "But if it gets the job done, I suppose I have to be okay with that."

"You do, though you will also be expected to say little or nothing." She scratched her cheek thoughtfully on the way towards the street. "We need to get a better view of how this world operates. Perhaps you may have more freedom than I initially assume."

Twibright perked an ear. "If you're willing to let me talk, I can be diplomatic." She nodded once, firm and resolute. "Though I'd still like to be able to see if there is a ponytopia here."

That made Watcher pause. "Would you truly wish to see if your world exists within this one, reflected as a soft shadow? I thought such an idea was unsettling, at best."

A flashing light went overhead and Watcher got a peek as an ambulance powered past, flying through the air. "The technology level, I see. We need to know more. Would that I could have seen more of this world, but the damage was too intense."

Emerging from the alley, the sidewalk was thick with humanity pushing either way. Every person had somewhere to be. Watcher took note that they were all human, if one forgave the ones that had so much modifications that they barely counted as human, depending on who asked.

Twibright was already drawing curious glances, her bright colors and lack of cybernetic parts making her stand out. She kept close to Watcher. "Is this how it will be? We just go somewhere and fix what's broken?"

"That is my job." Watcher reached back, keeping one of her hands atop Twibright as they worked through the crowd. "If you can call it that. There is one place common among most places where we can find information."

There, just a sharp left at the intersection, was a brightly-lit restaurant that called out in neon lights for the two to enter. Watcher walked in and took a booth. Twibright hopped up with Watcher's help. "This place has food." Twibright peered at their surroundings and then looked to the counter at the back.

Watcher sank down across from here. "This place has information. My hunger is not something food will sate."

"How can you eat? I mean." Twibright made a face. "How are you alive if you don't eat, sleep, or..." She made a smaller face. "Or the other one."

Watcher broke into sudden laughter. "I can do all three, if I want to. I don't need to. What I am is temporary." She raised a hand. "Service!"