Chapter 13
Sacrifice
"It's always the sacrifice that's forgotten by history. It remembers the name of the person who sacrificed them, and the name of those who stopped them. It remembers my name. It will always remember my name. Me, it's my fault. I let them get sacrificed. And for what? So that a rampaging madpony could devour half the worlds population? So that same madpony could kill two awesome sisters who couldn't stay out of it? Oh yeah... It'll forget them too probably. Say Twi... when I eventually crumble to dust and die, will I see you?"
~Rainbow Dash, 21 New Age Time
"When you say attempted..." Twilight mumbled, looking around her room. "Does that mean that it should be impossible as nopony looked into it before?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying." Discord chuckled, nodding his head. "Though... thinking about it, I possibly just caused you to start thinking about looking into it, which in turn probably will cause it to be possible." Discord sighed, nodding his head. "Now, thinking about it even further, the flow of time is interconnected. Essentially it's an infinitely running river that crosses over itself an infinite amount of times. Calculating it, from this exact moment, the next time Time crosses itself, for you to have heard anything from the future, would be... about 300 years from yesterday."
"Wait... but that would make Rainbow Dash more then 300..." Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "That's impossible. The average life span of a Pegasus is around 30 years, she'd have been living ten times that amount..."
"Oh, sorry." Discord chuckled shaking his head. "I misplaced a decimal I mean three thousand years."
"That's even less possible Discord."
"Not really Twi." rainbow said as she walked into Twilight's room. "I over heard you two talking."
"What do you mean Rainbow?" Twilight asked, looking over at her. "What do you mean by-"
"Are those markings what I think they are?" Discord gleefully shrieked, as he appeared beside Rainbow Dash examining her. "Why yes, yes they are! Why it hasn't been sense little Lunnie was young that I've seen these."
"Could you put me down Discord..." Rainbow sighed, as she used one of her wings to push away from Discord. "I'd like to keep my pride..."
"Why yes, I just get overly exited when I see the mark of a Guardian."
"Guardian? You mean like the Guardians of the Moon right?" Twilight asked, looking from Discord to Rainbow Dash, and back. "We already knew she was a member of them, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"No no silly Twilight." Discord said, shaking a claw at her. "Miss Rainbow Dash isn't just any guardian. She's The Guardian."
"I don't see a difference."
"It means I'm about as immortal as the sky is Twi." Rainbow sighed, looking away from Twilight. "And that I'll even out live Celestia and Luna."
"What but... aren't they immortal as well?"
"Ah... No they aren't. Even I'm not." Discord said, nodding. "We're, being us three as Discord, Lunamaria, and Celestia, are nearing our final years. We'd be about 26 if we were average Pegasi."
"So your on your last legs then?" Rainbow chuckled, patting Discord's back. "Glad to know you admit to being old."
"Ha ha Rainbow Dash..." Discord sighed, bowing his head. "Well, at least I'd be 26. Celestia and Luna are a bit younger then me in those terms."
"That makes sense, you've stated being their Uncle a few times before..." Rainbow sighed, nodding her head chuckling.
"So then..." Twilight said, looking out the window sighing. "Because of these... markings, which I thought didn't mean anything much, You're going to out live even Luna then..."
"Yup, by the looks of it yeah."
"Just out of curiosity, why were you out and about in the middle of night?" Twilight asked, looking over at Rainbow Dash. "It's rather rare to see you awake this late."
"There's something I needed to look into." Rainbow replied, an ernest haste in her voice. "It's about the ancient magics that you were talking about... before everything got even worse..."
"I should have a book here detailing them. Why?" Twilight asked, blinking. "Was the book I sent over to you not enough?"
"Well, no... even Trixie had trouble deciphering it." Rainbow sighed, looking away. "So I was thinking about getting something that might help."
"I see." Twilight nodded, moving to gather a few books. "I guess I could look to see if..."
"Hold on Twilight." Discord said, holding a claw in front of her to stop her from moving. "Granted, I understand the need to have more information, but why would you search for it in the middle of the night?"
"Discord!" Twilight yelped, looking from him to Rainbow Dash, and back. "I highly doubt that she doesn't have a good reason to do that. Why ask?"
"Because," Discord sighed, looking intently at Rainbow. "The last time I heard about these markings, they had taken over Lunamaria's mind."
"Nightmare Moon..." Twilight said, a worried look on her face as she looked at Rainbow Dash.
"I need more."
"Look Twilight, I told you I'm fine..." Rainbow Dash sighed, as she sat in Twilight's living room. "There isn't anything strange or weird going on. I just needed more books on that magic."
"I know Rainbow, but if what Discord said is true-"
"It is true!"
"-then we need to be on the safe side of things." Twilight sighed, glaring over at Discord, as he shrugged. "Can you trust me?"
"I need power."
"I can Twi." Rainbow said, shaking her head. "It's just... do you need to run so many tests?" She asked, as she flapped one of her wings, trying to get the wires off. "It's weird."
"Yes I do," Twilight nodded, smiling softly. "Because if I didn't then there is a chance things could go horribly wrong."
"You mean like when Pinkie found that weird duplication pool thing? Or when Trixie had the Alicorn Amulet?"
"I need it. Get it for me."
"Ah..." Twilight sighed shaking her head. "It could be worse. Or it could not, I don't know."
"Well, what do you know? It's been three hours."
"Hm..." Twilight sighed, looking over the several sheets of paper that lay on the ground. "According to this, there's nothing wrong with you that we can detect. Your still as much you as you were when we arrived here."
"That's good right?"
"Get it. I need power. Get it for me Rainbow Dash. I need more power."