• Member Since 26th Mar, 2015
  • offline last seen Last Thursday

Amber Spark


"Do it with love, do it with passion and never dream small!” - Author, Designer & Creator - Patreon/Ko-Fi

Sequels1

E
Source

This story is a sequel to Princess Celestia: A Brief History


  When Celestia first laid eyes on Twilight Sparkle, she knew she’d seen her somewhere before. Though she’d managed to hide this from both Sunset and Twilight, after they departed for the evening, Celestia needed to be sure.
  With her trusted aide Raven at her side and a dangerous threat on the horizon, Celestia heads to the offices of the Equestrian Secret Service to investigate her suspicions.
  Because if she’s right, the possibility of eternal night is the least of Equestria’s concerns.


In FimFiction's Feature Box from October 17 to October 21, 2016 with a Hot tag! :twilightblush:

Featured on Equestria Daily on October 23, 2016!

Historian’s Note:
In a timeline where the Sonic Rainboom didn’t happen, The Cloudsdale Report occurs directly after the events chronicled in Princess Celestia: A Brief History, which occur the day after The Application of Unified Harmony Magics.

Cast: Princess Celestia, Raven, Philomena, Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer


Stories set in the Wavelengths Timeline in chronological order:

Origins Arc
The Alchemy of Chemistry
Bards of the Badlands
Grading on a Bell Curve
Habits of the Equestrian Phoenix
How Not To Use Your Royal Prerogative

Applications Arc
The Application of Unified Harmony Magics
Princess Celestia: A Brief History
The Cloudsdale Report

Dreamers Arc
Tactics of Snowbound Unicorns
A Study in Chaos Theory
Teahouses of Saddle Arabia
As the Raven Flies


Cover Design by Amber Spark in Pixelmator
Celestia’s Cutie Mark by BlackGryp0n (Yes, that BlackGryp0n)

Beta Reader Credits
Ebon Quill - Quest Designer on The Manehattan Project
Little Tinker - Master of Systems at Ponyville Live & Scripting Engineer on The Manehattan Project

Chapters (5)
Comments ( 153 )

Gah! I really want to see that confrontation with Future Twilight now!

Seriously though, this just turned into one of my favorite AUs.

“I will fix it.”

Never have I been more terrified of the Rapairpony. :pinkiecrazy:

Yeah, i was right when commented on the announcement. This i s most amazing. I really didn't expect this plot turn, so another point to you.:twilightsmile: Great job and well done! :heart:

You know, I never believed that this AU could have been one of the alternate timelines done during the season 6 finale.

Well done for making a twist well-executed.

Well, that was not the direction I was expecting this AU to take. I am usually not a fan of time travel within a linear time line due to all of the contradictions involved with it, but I have really liked these stories so far so I am going to continue reading. I just hope that this ends up with a positive outcome for everybody, I just can't see that happening, but you have already surprised me once so let's see what happens. Also, let me just say that not only have I enjoyed your stories so far, but they have been very well written.

Damn it, this is getting so good!
I want more! Ugh do I have to wait for it... I do don't I? Fine...


Hope it's not too long of a wait... if you continue this that is...

PS: read your blog and I see that u have a lot planned! So thank you for this story!

Don't worry, Celestia! Once Twilight gets her friendship together, she'll solve this and you and your world will never have existed! :yay:

Not much I can say other than VERY well-written piece. The exchanges, emotional content and wrap-up in this story are all superbly done as usual. I never expected it to be one of the alternate timelines created during the "Cutie Re-Mark", presumably BEFORE the real mess starts (though, hopefully, things will go a lot better in this timeline than the ones we've seen in the two-parter) . At any rate, I will definitely be looking forward to more of your work as soon as time and inspiration will allow.

Celestia’s eyes narrowed in on the smug face of the flying pink unicorn.

“I will fix it.”

And when Twilight and Starlight reappeared, they were in the Deadquestria timeline.

Ghost Celestia, "I knew I shouldn't have bargained with that lime-green Shoggoth who used to hang out with Discord..."

:trollestia:

I still want Twilight and Sunset to become GF or BGFS Best Girl Friends

... Ohhh starlight you're screwed if you want to go for equality ...

Oops. didn't realize this was a sequel to something. Time to backtrack i guess.

Wow, folks. Seriously... just wow. Thank you all for your comments, upvotes and encouragement that actually has Cloudsdale sitting most of the day in the Feature Box! :pinkiegasp:

7649373 Oh, you'll definitely see a confrontation. That much, I promise (Please do not notice the lack of details regarding said confrontation). And thank you! That means a ton to me, especially since I wasn't sure how this was going to be received. :twilightsheepish:

7649553 Thank you ever so much! I do hope you enjoy the ride!

7649625 It's funny, I was really worried folks would figure this out much sooner and that I had telegraphed it way too much! Apparently not! :twilightblush:

7649682 :trixieshiftleft: Who said anything about linear? :trixieshiftright: As for the outcome, well, you'll just have to wait and see (Sorry, but that's just one I have to tease you about!) But thank you! I appreciate this greatly!

7650040 :rainbowlaugh:

7650206 And that's going to be the big question, huh? What's actually going to be the result in this particular timeline? /dun-dun-dun! :pinkiegasp: As for the next, it's already undergoing editing and I have a special plan for it!

7650744 I'll have you know that I categorically deny any claims that I have multiple pairs of Twilight and Sunsets in my possession that happen to be in close proximity to one another! ...oh wait, you didn't say anything about that, did you? Errr... as you were! :scootangel: (Don't worry, all shall be revealed in time)

7649401 Fear the Celestial Wrench of Justice! :trollestia:

7649858 Ayep! Much more is on the way, but indeed, you shall have to wait. I do have a job and a family to care for after all. :raritywink: However, I know that many authors tend to leave projects unfinished. It's one of the reasons I don't publish stories that are incomplete (and because my editing process makes that pretty much impossible). It's a personal goal of mine to see this through to the end. Not all the stories may be told, but those that won't be, you haven't even seen yet.

7650456 :rainbowkiss:

7650816 She is seriously hosed. Good thing she lives out in the middle of nowhere... oh wait... that's in the main timeline... :moustache:

i wonder if each glimmer suffered celestia wrath in each alternate timelines?

Oh, I do love the factual incorrectness of some of Celestia's assumptions. :twilightsmile:

Wait, Hold up, you are saying that this is complete, it's just so short a story, are you going to make ANOTHER sequel or what?

7650892
You know, that's one thing that I was never completely clear on with Starlight's spell. She always stayed in the past, so either she was pulled back on the same real-time as Twilight in the future, or she'd actually have to live through a dozen doomsdays. The episode suggested the former, but in your AU it would probably be the latter (which is a lot more rewarding to imagine).

...or Celestia will just yell at a completely clueless Starlight Glimmer from her own timeline until the poor mare wets herself. :trixieshiftleft:

Another excellent story. I'm slightly sad this "trilogy" is over, but looking forward to the actual Nightmare Moon battle, although the real climax of this timeline will probably be whenever Twilight and Spike show up again. At least I hope Spike shows up and doesn't just vanish from existence, but who knows with all this time travel.

Really nice to see behind the "mask" Celestia wears, as well as to get an idea of how many plans she has in motion. From Luna's return to Sunset's reformation, and now this. Interesting to confirm that here cutie marks can differ, I was always disappointed the season five finale didn't bother to show the Mane Six with any different cutie marks (especially after how those were kind of a focus that season).

Hm, I wonder if Sunburst will mention his old friend to anyone important enough to recognize the description. Not to mention the disturbing implications that destiny is off-course, and what to do about it, if anything can be done. Looking forward to more whenever you post.

PS- I kind of hope we hear more about that "eternal cake" story someday. That would make the perfect present to Celestia. Nice to hear that Celestia does regard Sunset as a daughter, though being practically family also means a lot of baggage sometimes.

Interesting. Usually these type of stories are really long that is why I don't read them. But this one is different. I'm gonna read it and its prequels too.

good story, I like it, keep up the good work

Really interesting. And it's true, if you think about it, there's no unaltered timeline—even the one where the race happened, Starlight and Twilight and Spike were still there in the past. Anything could be different from what it's supposed to be.

Is it necessary to read the preceding stories before I read this one?

7653236 I would strongly recommend reading Applications and History as they add much more context (and are quite amusing, I like to think), but it's not strictly necessary. I try to write stories so they stand alone as well as working together.

7653236 It took me entirely to long to realize that the square root of negative one is I. This is why I'm a liberal arts major, I can't even get simple math puns quickly.

7653459 At least you remembered it on your own. Most people have to be told.

7651028 You shall see! (I would say "We shall see," but since I already know... :trollestia:)

7651158 Hence, one of the biggest twists: you know so much more than the characters (at least... you think you do! :pinkiecrazy:).

7651956 I have plans for Spike, don't you fret! However, I don't think Sunburst will get a chance to say anything (You may want to re-read the third chapter of Applications about him :raritywink:). The real question is... when time itself is altered, can destiny be said to be off-course? :unsuresweetie:

(Why yes, I am going for cryptic, why do you ask? :scootangel:)

Thank you kindly for the comments! You have no idea how much they mean to me (Hint: A lot).

7651103 derpicdn.net/img/view/2016/9/16/1250798__safe_screencap_cute_animated_scootaloo_sweetie+belle_grin_cutie+mark_happy_the+cmc%27s+cutie+marks.gif

7651249 Think it more like a TV series (that may have started in Season 2 instead of Season 1. :unsuresweetie:) and you just read the Season Finale. But you've got plenty more seasons on the way, a couple movies and some other cool stuff waiting! All of this is part of the same ongoing story though!

7651310 Something I spent FAR too much time thinking about. (Seriously, I think I workshopped that for like a month or two. :derpytongue2:)

7652209 That's actually really funny, because I usually write really long, drawn-out novels. I'm just trying a different kind of episodic storytelling here. Apparently folks like it! I hope you enjoy the rest! :pinkiehappy:

7652413 <Engage Mysterious/Cryptic Voice> All shall be revealed in time! </end voice> :scootangel:

7652572 Thank you kindly!

7652770 Time travel's a little evil, don't you think?

7653459 Don't feel bad. It's why I'm a novelist. Math and I don't get along. (Because honestly, I didn't get that at ALL). :twilightoops:
7653471 Heh. What I said up there. :rainbowderp:

7653577
You are enjoying this far too much.

Go on, give us a good cackle! You know you want to.

7653601
Yes. Just imagine if something truly, truly horrific happened because of Starlight's tampering with time, and she learns of it after Cutie Remark.

That would destroy her.

Celestia’s eyes fell once more upon the picture. “At least we can be confident in one thing.”
“What’s that, Your Majesty?”
Celestia lifted the photograph in her magic and held it before the two of them.
“If these two were involved in a plot to change history,” Celestia felt herself stand a little straighter. Now that she had shared the weight of the secret, she felt stronger, more alive. “Then this is their new timeline. When they return to whatever they consider to be the present, they’ll return to this timeline.”

I'm really not following all this time-line stuff. Why would they return to this time-line, and not any of the half dozen others created? Why is this "alternate" time-line their new one? Does that mean the canon series timeline is destroyed instead?

Also, I just realized the reason no one saved Fluttershy as she was falling was because everyone was all busy looking at Twilight.

Two ponies are going to suffer the most because if this.
One, princess twilight, for effectively losing her entire world. All her friends will be different people with different destinies. Honorable mention to dash without her mark for being the fastest Pegasus alive.
Two, sunset shimmer. Specially if ascended. Obviously I'm going for the shipping angle, but how will she fell off she finds out she "stole" her lover's destiny? That twilight is the one that should ascend? This is considering that bacon horse shall ascend to stop Luna or something.

Basically this can easily become rather sad... But that only means the stakes are that much higher :rainbowdetermined2:

Following you now (just read the prequels and this one), and waiting anxiously for the next installment! :pinkiehappy:

I am sorely in need of council.

counsel. (Unless Celestia wants to talk to a gathering of ponies.)

Agreed. Shipping! :pinkiehappy:

Jumped to the end, 'cause I was wondering why there were no words, but dramatic irony makes this all the sweeter!

"traditionally-minded subjected" -> "traditionally-minded subjects"

Unique formatting for the report text itself? You could stick the text inside quote tags; that's what I do in my stories.

Ahh, this Celestia is very on the ball.

And now she realizes the real challenge: how to help her mucked up timeline survive when the path they know works is not available to them!

Woah. :twistnerd: The epilogue pictures didn't warn me of this! Great! :pinkiehappy: ... Although, it made sense once I read that Twilight's cutie mark was different.

7653577
7651028

I can already tell I am going to enjoy this story immensely as it continues.

Oh, Sunbutt! Your alternate other student that never was but could be again some time ago has appeared!

*poof*

Where is she? And that snarky little unicorn, too?

7654624 The shipping shall last... FOREVER! :coolphoto: And thanks for the correction! Fixed it the instant I saw your comment. :twilightsmile: (Though you're a bit odd for skipping to the end, you Cheaty-McCheaterson :pinkiegasp:)

7654626 I thought about doing that, but saw it recently in a story and felt like it broke up the narrative too much. What I wanted was a slightly different font or something, but apparently FimFiction's BBCode doesn't want to play nice with alternate fonts. Oh well!

7654627 She doesn't know the path doesn't work. After all, she still doesn't know what was changed... only one result of it. :trollestia:

7654636 Princess Celestia: A Brief History goes into much more detail about the Wavelength's Twilight's Cutie Mark story (and her mark is shown on both the cover and in the Retrospective!). Anyway, it's not about the destination... it's always about the journey. :twilightsmile:

7653610 Well, if you insist. derpicdn.net/img/view/2015/5/17/898018__safe_twilight+sparkle_rainbow+dash_pinkie+pie_rarity_clothes_screencap_cute_princess+celestia_smiling.gif
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/5/24/332463__safe_solo_animated_discord_laughing_lol.gif
derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/10/1/111243__safe_animated_spike_hub+logo_laughing_moustache_ei_owl%27s+well+that+ends+well_evil+laugh_dastardly+spike.gif

7654281 Since Starlight and Twilight returned to the same fixed point in time in every instance where time was altered, each universe has it's own "particular" version of the events in Cloudsdale. Therefore, any timeline shown with them in it is the current timeline for them when they return to the present.

Or... you could go with this explanation:

7654889 "I believe the other one is hiding under the dining table. She has been cowering there for some time. I told them you'll be with them when possible."

"Excellent."

7654362 Oh there is so very many ways I could tease you for your insightful comments. So many ways I could throw red herrings in your path or not and say that I did or not and not! So many possibilities! So many options! I just can't choose!

That being said, all shall be revealed in due... time. :twilightsmile:

derpicdn.net/img/view/2012/6/24/18678__safe_pinkie+pie_animated_reaction+image_baby+cakes_drums_cymbals_rimshot.gif

7656409 I know that. But she knows that another timeline successfully navigates at least one world-threatening scale crisis (since Twilight lives to ascend, instead of freezing to death in Nightmare Moon's Eternal Night), and she knows she is not in that timeline anymore. Even an immortal sun goddess is going to experience some worry over that realization.

Because she can't fix the timeline if it all comes crashing down before Starlight and Princess Twilight reappear for her to...vigorously remonstrate with, after all. So she has to find a new successful path, or its poof for all her little ponies. :pinkiegasp:

Basically, she's going to be desperate: somepony derailed her millennium-long master plan to save the world, and she didn't even notice for several years. Sun-day is coming fast, and she has to jump tracks and improvise and hope there is more than one path through the astronomical odds against her.

I would be freaking out right now. Totally a good thing I'm not a millennia old sun goddess facing the possible end of the world, isn't it? :derpytongue2:

7651028

Nah. She can also suffer Discord's! After all, a spirit of pure Chaos is unbound by such piddly things as causality, but will certainly take an attempt to unmake his Fluttershy and thus his relationship with her... poorly. Chaos is not known for having a pleasant taste in appropriate response.

:fluttercry:

7650040 Indeed. I always felt Starlight Glimmer got of easy for multiple counts of temporal omnicide. Logically each timeline existed from the day of the non-rainboom till the time Twilight arrives in the alternate 'present' and is then erased as soon as another cycle starts. That makes Twilight an unwitting accessory.

Login or register to comment