Twilight quickly pounced into the room and flared her horn in case anyone decided to put themselves between her and her loves. Seeing the pair, then the unconscious body of Checkered, she let out a reassured sigh and rushed over.
"Did they do anything to you?" she asked, moving around Celestia, then Luna to check for any wounds. "I swear to you if they did-?!"
Celestia placed a comforting hoof on Twilight's shoulder as Luna made her way over. "We're unharmed, our moon; all thanks to Bone Setter," she said, gesturing to the pony that was unsuccessfully hiding behind her shadow now.
Twilight raised a brow at the aqua-coated mare and walked over. She wasn't sure, but she could swear she had seen the mare before. "Thank you for risking yourself," she said, reaching down with her hoof.
"You're not angry that I-" Bone squeaked, imagining Twilight being angry at her for working with Checkered. "I nearly..."
Lowering herself down, Twilight shook her head. "You didn't though. That's what matters."
"I shouldn't even be here, Princess," Bone stated as she slowly began to unfurl herself from her frightened state.
"Wait, you know I'm a Princess?"
"Of course! I watched your coronation," Bone said, nodding as a smile appeared. "But, uh, anyway, I was contacted by Checkered and asked to work for him. Next thing I knew, I'm here. I arrived a few weeks ago."
"Don't worry; I can take you home," Twilight replied as she placed a reassuring hoof on Bone's shoulder.
Luna turned to Celestia, nuzzled into her neck, then held herself close as she breathed in her scent to try and mask the already entrenched smell of burnt hair.
Tempered finally wandered in and took a glance around, before grimacing at the smell of burnt flesh. "Great! I'm going to be smelling this for a week!" she groaned, nearing the nuzzling Princesses.
Stopping, she opened her mouth for a second, then winced. "I guess I'm sorry for almost getting you two dissected," she said, unsure.
Celestia stared at her for a good few seconds, then shrugged. "Fine. You helped our Moon with saving us. You're forgiven," she said, holding out her hoof, to which Tempered shook.
Luna, on the other hand, was looking over Tempered's horns. "Are you half deer?" she asked, garnering Tempered's attention.
"Yes, I am. Why?"
"Well, we were looking for a guide to take us to the border. Would you be able to?" Luna asked, turning to Twilight while she moved back over with Bone, her smile growing warmer.
Tempered looked down at the metal floor with a frown. She wasn't entirely sure if trusting these ponies would help her, despite what they had gone through. "Why do you need to go there?" she asked, glancing between the three ponies, then Bone who she narrowed her eyes slightly, causing her to inch behind Twilight.
The three shared a look, then Twilight nodded. "We need to see the Queen," she answered, hoping that Tempered knew how to get there at the very least. "We can explain later, okay? First, we'll need to get out of the town."
Tempered gestured to Checkered's body, a worried look in her eyes."We can't just leave him here, he'll surely come after us- after me- for doing this!"
"Well, we're not going to kill him if that's what you mean," Celestia said, giving Tempered a shocked look.
"Moon, can you take him back with you when you take Bone?" Luna asked, looking over to Twilight. "Surely we could get better information out of him there?"
"What do you mean by that?" Tempered asked, glancing between them.
Thinking about it for a second, Twilight tapped her chin. "That could work," she replied, nodding. "Fine. Can you two carry him while we get out of here?"
"Wait, carry him? What are you talking about?!" Tempered huffed, stomping her hoof. "Explain what is going on!"
Twilight winced and glanced at the door. "Look, I can't explain it all right here right now but Bone and I are from the future. I'm taking her back as soon as we get out of here and I'll have to take Checkered back as well to get some information out of him."
Tempered stared at the mare, the corners of her lips curling slightly until she saw the completely serious expressions of the others. "Wait... You're serious?" she asked, her face quickly passing through several expressions until settling on slightly amused. "Do I even want to ask how far forward you two are from?"
"Two thousand years," Bone answered as she peeked out from behind the Alicorn.
Tempered closed her eyes and nodded, still in slight disbelief. "I'll be asking a lot of questions later but for now, we should go."
Twilight stared at the mansion from atop a nearby hill. Her mind racing now that it had a moment to calm down.
Once again they had been attacked. While the attacker didn't know the whole story, it didn't make Twilight feel much better about the whole situation.
'Clearly this Sun Dial can travel in time. Even if they can't themselves, they can communicate with those in the past,' Twilight thought, her eyes watching the guards as they rushed to and fro in panic.
The group had made quite an easy escape, what with the facility only being partially guarded in the first place, as well as it being the middle of the night.
The rest of the group was setting up a small camp so they could rest and regain their bearings. Each of them gathering up leaves to keep warm as well as tying up Checkered Past to keep him from galloping off.
Twilight's ears flicked when she heard someone move up next to her and she turned her head to see who it was.
Luna stood there, a soft but tired smile on her face as she brushed some of her mane from her face sheepishly. "Want some company?" she asked, a little unsure.
"For you, always," Twilight replied, her smile returning. Once Luna laid down next to her, she leaned over and rested against the lunar mare. "Do you want to see the future?"
Luna's eyes widened, but she kept silent for a few seconds after the question was asked, unsure of how to answer. "Uh, well yes," she finally replied. "This soon though?"
"I have to take him," Twilight said, gesturing to Checkered who was still out cold, "and Bone Setter back. May as well take you two on that date I promised. Besides, we'll have to grab some more supplies anyway. I doubt we'll survive foraging for food."
Luna nodded. "Indeed," she concurred, looking back at the rest of the group. "We can't keep going like this, Moon. Even we have limits. I fear the next time we have to face something, we won't be so lucky."
Twilight felt herself shrink at those words and shifted her attention down at the dirt. She knew that Luna was right and the best thing for them would be to have a small break.
"Don't worry, Luna. I'll try to keep you two from getting hurt," she chuckled, bringing her eyes up in time to find Luna leaning in and locking lips with her.
Twilight's eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into the kiss, her cheeks flushing a deep crimson as pleasure filled her. Time slowed into eternity and Twilight couldn't help but let out a soft whine when Luna pulled away.
"Acting all tough," Luna teased, "then blushing like a filly."
Twilight's eyes opened to see Luna smiling wide, if a bit bashful. "Why now?" she asked, unable to keep her own smile off her face.
Her heart fluttered and her body vibrated with joy that it was almost painful for her to have to stay still but the presence of the alicorn of the moon made it all worth it for her.
Luna sighed and placed a hoof over Twilight's hoof. "When I saw you on the floor, bleeding out, I felt like a piece of me was ripped away," Luna answered, gazing into Twilight's eyes. "When you came back to rescue us- I was whole again. Be ours, Moon."
Twilight inched in and brushed her cheek against Luna's, gently nuzzling her while letting out a soft mewl. "Always and forever yours, Lulu.”
Luna shivered from the affection she was being shown. “I’ll hold you to that, my moon.”
There was an eternal pause where Luna and Twilight were the only ponies in the whole world and everything revolved around them. All of Twilight’s senses were tingling and she never wanted this feeling to end; the feeling of knowing that someone wanted her so deeply that it would stay with them millennia later.
Then Bone wandered over.
“Hey, you two,” the mare said, awkwardly standing off to the side. “I don’t want to alarm you, but there’s a lot of commotion in the town,” she continued, pointing over to the lit-up port town.
“We should get ready,” Twilight said, pulling back, then rising up. She looked down at Luna with a soft smile and asked, “Get your sister and tell her what’s going to happen,” then turned to Bone after Luna nodded, kissed her, then rushed off towards the makeshift camp. “I’ll be taking you and Checkered back to our present. We’re in no shape to deal with an entire town of guards. Besides, I think all of us could use a break.”
Bone blinked, then it finally registered. “Oh, perfect!” she squeaked, smiling wide. “I can’t wait to have proper plumbing.”
With a chuckle, Twilight brushed past Bone with a smirk. “Alright, you can help me with these runes.”
“What runes?” Bone asked, confused.
“Well, not the runes specifically, but I’ve used up most of my magic on the way. Alicorn healing has a way of draining magic,” she explained, finding a clear patch of grass a little ways off from the makeshift camp. Circling the area, she stopped and dragged her hoof over the dirt before looking over to Bone. “I’ll need you to supply the magic.”
Bone stared at Twilight with an unsure expression. “Uh, I don’t know if I can do that,” she said, questionably. “I’ve only been good at healing magic.”
Twilight let out a soft chuckle. “Don’t be so silly, Bone,” she teased, walking over to her and placing a hoof on her shoulder. “Of course you can do it. Everypony has a well of magic inside of them just waiting to come out. You just use yours more precisely than most. Now,” Twilight said, pulling Bone over to a spot. "Stand here."
With a grin, Twilight rushed about, her glowing horn burning a several meter circle into the dirt, then a smaller inner circle. The area between was filled with glowing runes floating just above the surface.
Bone watched as the mare galloped around, adding runes of various sizes, as well as several cascading layers of glowing iridescent runes.
"Princess?" she asked, now looking worried at the sheer complexity of the spell.
"What's up?" Twilight replied, having gotten caught up in her own spell-casting symphony which only she could hear.
All the various components slotted together to form one grand machine which only she knew the workings of. It tingled her fur to see the big picture and paint it onto the canvas of the world.
"Uh, it's looking mighty complicated," Bone remarked, rubbing her leg nervously. "Why is it so big? The one they forced me through was smaller than this."
Twilight placed the last few little touches to her masterpiece and stepped back. She looked over to Bone and tapped her chin in thought.
"Well, I can only imagine they recast the spell for each pony that went through. Incredibly inefficient, not to mention slow," she muttered, rolling her eyes and circling her spell. "But this... It's this size because we'll be transporting everyone at once. It's more efficient, but I can only lock onto my entry point in the castle."
Bone stared at the Princess with awe. Simply looking at the multi-layered spell caused her horn to tingle." I, uh... If you say so, Princess."
Twilight sighed and moved around to stand next to Bone. "Please, call me Twilight," she asked, "considering we're friends."
"What? But we only just met," Bone said, confused.
"So? You saved my-" Twilight paused, then shrugged as she realized it wouldn't really matter if Bone knew. "You saved my mare friends. That means we're friends in my book."
Bone stared at the Princess as a series of emotions flicked across her face. "Oh," she said, stammering. "Thank you, ma'am," she continued, lowering her head to bow.
Twilight's eyes widened and she gently lifted Bone's head back up with her magic. "Hey now, there's no need for that," she chuckled softly, shaking her head. "You don't bow to your other friends, do you?"
"Well, no-"
"Good, then no need to do it for me. Now, shall we take you home?" Twilight asked, smiling warmly down at the mare.
It was at that time that the others made themselves known, mostly from Checkered Past groaning and thrashing about while he was dragged in Celestia's magic.
"He wouldn't keep quiet, so I used some leaves to gag him," she muttered, looking rather unamused; at least until she saw the spell. "Wow."
Luna had a similar reaction, with her eyes widened. "Moon, you just keep surprising me," she said, walking over and nuzzling hard against her, receiving a giggle in response.
Tempered simply stared at the multi-layered spell in shock. She simply had no idea that pony magic could be used in such a way and it blew her mind. "I- uh, what is it?" she asked, almost afraid to near it.
Seeing this, Twilight smiled and walked over to stand near her. "I did say I'm from the future," she began. "This is a ritual spell to take us all there at once. It's perfectly safe, I assure you. There are several runes that keep it locked until the right time," she explained, gesturing to a couple of runes floating idly around the outside.
Tempered was still in shock, unable to process it all. "You," she mumbled, turning to look at Twilight now. "You really are, aren't you?" she asked, receiving a nod. "That's... wow. What's it like?"
Twilight's lips curled. "It's amazing. My country is run by," she said, looking over to the sisters, "two brilliant mares. I also help out a little here and there. As much as I'd like to show you, it would cost too much magic to bring you along."
Tempered blinked then looked around. "Wait, you can't leave me out here alone. I'm wanted now," she said, frowning.
Twilight shook her head and held up a hoof. "Trust me, we'll be back a mere second after we leave. I promise."
While Tempered didn't look happy, she didn't particularly want to fight about it. "Fine," she said, scuffing the dirt with her hoof.
Twilight opened her mouth to continue but simply watched as Tempered wandered over to a shaded patch and lay down to watch them.
She was broken out of her moment when Checkered thrashed about again and managed to remove the gag out of his mouth. "Sun Dial will get you, Twilight Sparkle! Your wives- Mmpf!" he shouted, before being forcefully gagged by Luna.
Twilight stared at the stallion, before shaking her head. "Probably a slip of the tongue," she thought, trying not to think too hard on his words. "Alright, everyone ready?" she asked, glancing around.
Once she received a varying degree of nods, and worried looks, she grinned. "Everyone, move into the spell radius and Bone," she ordered, turning to the mare, "place your horn on the burn mark and simply let your magic flow. It only needs a jump start."
Bone did as she was told and hesitantly lowered her head down so her horn was brushing along the scorched dirt. It only took a second but she felt a flow latch on and try to pull her magic as it flowed around the circuit. Despite wanting to hold onto it, she let the floodgates open and the circuit simply ate her magic up, pulling more and more out through her horn.
As magic was pumped into the spell, the runes began to glow brighter and brighter as they circled around them until the light engulfed the group and with a heavy crack, they vanished.
There wasn't much for Celestia to be happy about. One of her marefriends had left and wouldn't be back for what she imagined to be quite some time, she still had to run the country when all she wanted to do was to cuddle with Luna and enjoy some Projector stories. Yet, one piece of happiness had dropped into her life and it was laying in the bed in front of the Princess.
Celestia had spent the last couple of days by Sunset's bedside, making sure she got the best care that Equestria could provide, especially for this timezone.
She knew that this would be a huge culture shock for the poor mare and so, had outfitted a quiet wing of the castle with anything and everything the royal designers could find from her timezone to make the transition as easy as possible.
Brushing Sunset's hoof with her own, Celestia's ears twitch and perk up at the sound of a groan leaving the mare's lips.
"Sunset?!" Celestia gasped, panicking for a second before rushing over to the door and peeking outside. "Get the doctor, now!"
Before the guards could salute, she had already shut it and rushed back over. "Sunset, how are you feeling?" she asked, looking worried.
Sunset's eyes would open slowly, painfully, as her vision blurred but eventually focused. The first thing she'd see would be the intricately designed ceiling and chandelier before she turned towards the voice she recognized.
"Celestia?" she coughed, blinking the blurriness away only to see a much larger mare she had known. "W-What is going on?"
"You're okay," Celestia said smiling. "Moon saved you, right?" she asked, half worried that something else might have happened. "You're in the future."
"I remember," Sunset began as she groaned and pushed herself up slightly. "Moon said she would come back after you three were gone. Not even a few minutes after I was given to Ruin and she appeared as if she had just wandered back!"
Celestia couldn't help but smile as she imagined Twilight walking in and looking lost, much like her first few days at the castle. "It's been so long since we last saw you," Celestia muttered, beginning to tear up. "I've missed you so much, Sun!"
With a squeak, Sunset found herself being pounced by a crying Princess and hidden as she nuzzled and kissed her cheek. "Celestia! You're bigger than before! Easy there," she grunted, pushing her back a little then sighing and smiling up at her. "I'm so glad I'm back with my favorite students."
It didn't take long for the doctors to look Sunset over, of which the mare was a bit skeptical of them, but kept quiet due to Celestia's fussing. Though, once the doctors gave her a clean bill of health, Sunset took the first few hesitant steps out of bed in her brand new timezone.
She slid off the soft mattress and took a few steps away from the safety of the bed and towards Celestia, a grimace on her face the whole time.
"I feel like a foal!" she groaned, stretching her legs and huffing.
"Good! You were just transported two thousand years. At least spend a little bit getting acclimatized!" Celestia retorted, rolling her eyes. "Besides, we can't have you in bed all the time when you could be seeing everything that modern Equestria has to offer!"
"Moon Light showed me a little before you left. It's nothing like what she saved me from," Sunset said, smiling and walking over. She still felt stiff, but that would no doubt wear off quickly. "So we better get started, shouldn't we?"
Celestia stated down at her and smiled back. "Of course. Lulu will be joining us for lunch, as is customary."
"And Moon Light?"
"She, uh, went back. We haven't heard anything, but from what I remember, it shouldn't be super long between visits."
"I see. Well, I would have preferred to thank her, but I guess that will have to wait. It would be lovely to see how science and magic have been improved!" Sunset giggled, wandering towards the door with a happy Celestia trailing behind.
"Would you like me to guide you?" Celestia asked, rather unsure.
"Nonsense. A little wandering isn't a bad thing," Sunset replied, turning to look at her. "You may be stupidly older than me but I never stopped being your teacher," she finished, giggling a little and nudging the Princess.
Opening the door with her magic, Sunset strode out and glanced down one way then the other. "So, it's been a few hours for me, consciously at least. Tell me what happened since you left in those tunnels," she asked, turning to see Celestia easily keeping pace with her as they made their way down the bright hall.
As expected from the royal castle, the floors were covered in fine carpets, along with lavish tapestries and various busts of ponies throughout history. Alongside those, Celestia had placed pictures and artifacts unearthed dated to the same era as Sunset to help her feel more at ease.
Celestia looked down at the mare and curled her lips into a slight smile. "Oh, nothing much. Rather uneventful really," she replied, looking over to the window and out towards her country.
"Wait, really?" Sunset asked, turning back with a confused stare.
The Princess stopped suddenly and looked down, a smirk on her face. "No. Of course, everything went wrong but we were three mare's in our prime and thus we dealt with it."
Sunset, for the first time, glanced over to the window. Her jaw dropped at the sheer sight that stretched out before her. Towns and villages dotted the landscape, separated by a sea of green.
"Like it?" Celestia asked, wrapping her wing around Sunset while she moved closer to the window.
"You did all this?" Sunset asked, looking up at the Princess who was staring down with a proud and loving smile.
"Luna and I did all this."
"I kind of forgot I took a shortcut here," Sunset chuckled, leaning into Celestia and nuzzling her chest fluff.
The tender display way cut short by Sunset's stomach angrily rumbling, causing her to pull away and flush.
"Oh my," Celestia teased. "I could feel that. We better get some food inside you," she said, rising up and gently leading Sunset with her wing.
"I would like that!"
While traveling the halls, the mare made sure to stick close to the Princess all while peeking about to see anything new. It didn't take long for her to get distracted by the various fashion of some wandering noble, or the guards' uniforms, causing Celestia to keep pulling her away lest she starved.
The pair arrived at the royal dining hall in this wing of the castle. Two heavy, oak doors swung open under Celestia's aura, revealing a modestly sized room.
Marble flooring, with the sister' emblem, sat beneath a long, wooden dining table surrounded by numerous vacant chairs.
Celestial banners sat interspersed with Lunar banners around the edge of the ceiling, along with two, floor-to-ceiling, windows at the far end, allowing sunlight to cascade in.
"So, here we are," Celestia huffed, glancing down at Sunset, "finally."
Sunset sheepishly smiled. "Everything's new and shiny, I can't help it!" she replied, brushing her mane back behind her ear.
"Well, I'll have some tomes brought around so you can catch up. Think of it as some light reading," Celestia said, walking into the room.
At the far end of the table sat Luna with her back to the door. She was bobbing her head to some music playing out of a tape machine attached to a pair of headphones.
Celestia tilted her head, then closed the gap. Each step she took, her smile morphed into a sly grin until she snuck up and pulled the headphones off Luna's head!
"Ah!" Luna yelped, turning to face the would-be intruder, only to press her muzzle up against Celestia's, who kissed her.
"Mm," Celestia hummed, then pulled back and walked around to the other side of the table to sit down. "Good afternoon, Lulu," she giggled. "I pray your morning was uneventful?"
Luna blinked and felt her cheeks darken. "Indeed," she replied, nodding. "Until you arrived, of course."
"Of course," Celestia repeated, then gestured with her hoof to the head of the table. "Please, Sunset, sit."
Luna's eyes widened and she turned in her seat to see the mare standing there awkwardly. "Oh, Sunset!" Luna gasped, jumping out of her chair and galloping over. She scooped the mare up in a hug and sighed. "A thousand apologies for not being there while you awoke! I was called away and sister dearest didn't want to deal with it."
Celestia sheepishly shrugged as she watched the pair, then rolled her eyes. "Someone had to be there and you deal with all that stuff, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah," Luna mumbled, smiling down at Sunset after she let her go. "You look... I've missed you," she said, tearing up then quickly scooping the mare up again.
"Woah, hey, Luna!" Sunset gasped. Eventually, the hug subsided and she tightened her own hug. "I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again, Luna. I'm glad I have."
Luna let the mare go and gestured to the seat. "Please sit. Food will be here soon," she said, moving back to her own seat.
"Oh, head of the table? Okay..." Sunset said to herself as she climbed into the chair. She looked from one princess to the other, each of which watching her. "Uh, so.."
"Yes, sorry!" Luna sighed, staring down at the table. "Sorry, I forgot. It's just been so long."
"I'm sure," Sunset replied, running her hooves across the edge of the table. "So, uh, anything exciting while I was away? Other than your adventure with Moon Light?"
The sisters looked over at each other, then winced. Celestia took up the reign first. "Uh, yeah. a few things," she replied, trailing off at the end.
"There was a few more end of the world scenarios, but they were... handled," Luna continued on, sharing a look with her sister.
"It's nothing we can't work past. Family and all that," Celestia finished, tapping her hoof awkwardly on the table.
Sunset was starting to imagine this would be a long first lunch back.
Sunset closed the door to her chambers and let out a tired sigh. Even though the lunch was just over an hour, she already had the sense that the sisters were tip-toeing around some topics which they'd rather she not know.
What topics? She didn't know, but she could find out from the mountainous pillars of books stacked high around her room.
Levitating the nearest book off a stack, Sunset scanned the cover. "Crop maintenance and you," she read, confused. "At least the language hasn't changed that much."
Moving over to another stack, she ran her eyes down each of the spines before humming and quickly sliding one of the books out; 'Everything about Princess Twilight Sparkle'.
Sunset climbed up into her bed and patted the sheets down as she got comfortable. The book levitated in front of her while she laid down, then opened the book to start reading.
A couple of hours after Sunset had settled down for the night, she let out an 'eep' and dropped her book when her room shook from a heavy thump, and a magical pressure wave emanated out from the other side of the castle.
With a tingling horn, the mare rose up from the bed and stumbled over to the door. She pulled it open only to see guards rushing up and down the hall, clearly unsure as to what was happening.
It was barely a second after that light had engulfed the group that they let out a sharp gasp and hit the hardwood floor of Twilight's chambers. Once again, books lined the walls from floor to ceiling, signifying that they had arrived back in the present.
Twilight and the sisters were the first to rise up. "Is everyone okay?" she asked, finding the portal right where she had left it, yet neither of the Princesseses was there, nor was Starlight.
Bone sat on her rump and stared around at the multitude of books, barely able to believe that she was actually back in her time. "I'm-" she mumbled to herself, tears beginning to pool in her eyes, before she turned to Twilight, "I can never repay you!" With that, she rushed over and tackle-hugged the mare.
Twilight let out a chuckle and wrapped a leg around her. "No need for that. It's my job to look out for my little ponies."
Looking over the group, she smiled warmly then said, "Well, I won't lie; I'm glad it worked." With a chuckle, she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "It's a mashup of several spells which are, admittedly, a bit volatile at the best of times."
Letting go of Bone, she gestured to her original portal sitting behind the group; a crackling, straining, tear in the fabric of reality. The other side showed the alleyway in which she had entered, back in Stonewall. "That's the original. It's a more stable version, but it can only lock onto roughly your location in the timeline, Luna."
"Where does it connect to currently?" Luna asked, turning from the portal towards Twilight. "Or when?"
"That's Stonewall, minutes before I told you I'm an Alicorn," Twilight said. "Speaking of, your future selves should have been standing right here."
"I thought meeting ourselves would have been bad?" Celestia asked, looking concerned.
"Well, yes," Twilight answered, wincing. "It's a smaller concern than them not being here, " she added, her expression dropping. Twilight's anxiety now grew and she pressed a hoof to her chest. "I... uh, have to check something," she announced, glancing between the three, then Checkered, who had a look of glee on his face. "I'll be right back, promise!"
With that, Twilight rushed haphazardly down the stairs, over to her double doors and slammed them open, only to find the Princesses screeching to a halt in front of her with looks of shock and relief plastered on their faces.
"Twilight!"
"Our Moon!"
"Princesses," Twilight sniffled, jumping at the pair and being enveloped tight in their wings. "You weren't in my room... I thought I had done something to erase you!" she whimpered, receiving a squeeze in return.
"Don't be silly," Celestia whispered, pulling back to show Twilight her silver bracelet. "We have these, remember."