Sparkle

by Quill of Filth

Out Of Time

Twilight jolted up, her chest heaving and her heart pounding. Examining her surroundings, she immediately noticed she was sitting in her chamber, the silver moonlight rays passung through the balcony threshold indicating it was still night.

After a few minutes she calmed down, and despite the shot of adrenaline, she could immediately feel the exhaustion weighing her down due to lack of sleep.

She recalled the vividness of the nightmare. Like a vision.

She bowed her head, closing her eyes.

Her eyes opened to the book she was reading. She realized it was no wonder she drifted off.

Her eyes glanced to the bed, it's form alluring and calling her like a siren to rest. But her mind and resolve said no. Despite having broken her previous bad habit of letting her mind ruminate and worry, she found that the situation demanded it despite her royal duties. Like raising the sun.

She looked at the clock.

A thought crossed her mind of choosing not to fulfill her task, but she discarded it despite her somber state.

She took the amulet and entered the balcony, beginning to lower the moon and raise the sun, making the morning light encapsulate the sky.

Her gaze fell on the amulet again as memories of Celestia and Luna manifested once more.

She wished they were here. But their disappearances marked the day of her true solitary reign. Which was coming to an end.

Her brows furrowed as anger began to rise again, with similar feelings from the night before resurfacing.

"Any new ideas?"

Twilight's ears flicked and eyes slightly widened in response as she was internally startled from the familiar old sardonic voice.

Turning, she noticed the chimeric serpent dragon floating in the air with his arms crossed, his crimson pupils staring at her. He raised his bushy white brows and bowed his head, asking for a response.

"No. I researched some ancient artifacts but the ones that may help are residing in unknown locations."

Some ideas crossed her mind but were discarded- like imbuing the atmosphere with magic making it a stronger shield. If only there was a way to move the stars.

"I thought about creating a pocket dimension for us to reside," he said, "but it would require too much magic to make and to upkeep."

"I don't think everypony would've been able to fit anyway," Twilight dismissed. "And I'm not too keen on abandoning Equestria."

"We're running out of time," Discord growled, stroking his beard in thought.

Time.

"What if we went back in time and told our past selves earlier to give them more time to solve it?"

"You and I both know that's a terrible solution."

"What if we went back in time to stop the star from being created or got the Elements of Harmony."

"Those may be strong enough. But there's small issues like knowing which star to abort and shattering the time space continuum. And perhaps you're familiar with the Butterfly Effect."

Twilight's ears lowered as she sighed.

"Why are you proposing time travel, I thought you of all ponies would be against it."

"Starswirl was researching time spells. And I'm willing to do anything at this point."

"Did he say what for?"

"Not exactly. Maybe there's some sort of magic in the past he wanted access to? Or maybe he wanted to find a way to alter time on an object? Or to change an event? Go outside time? Stop time?"

"Then it appears we're out of luck. I might as well reek havoc and create chaos with the time I have left," he stated, tossing his arm, "I don't suppose you have another deus ex machina token lying around?"

The oppression and weight of everything was starting to take a toll on Twilight's psyche. She'd never felt so grim in her whole life. She was waiting to physically turn grey.

Discord gave a sidelong glance before his shoulders slumped.

A heavy silence fell over them for a while before Twilight broke it. "I invited the others over to dinner in the Canterlot garden," she mumbled. "Would you like to come?"

"It may be our last."

Silence fell again until a suprising sound captured Twilight's attention.

Discord chuckled. "You know, I never thought I'd be here. I used to indulge in warping reality, creating existential misery, and misfortune... Life indeed tends to be ironic."

"... You've come a long way."

He inhaled deeply and blinked rapidly a few times, before bringing a fist in front of his mouth, clearing his throat. "Yes, well, what time is the dinner?"

"Six-thirty sharp."

"Then I shall see you then," he replied lowly, snapping his talons and disappearing in a starry flash.

Twilight entered her chamber, setting the amulet on the desk. Sitting down, leaned back and closed her eyes.

But before she could even really think, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in."

The door opened revealing a familiar purple scaled and green spined dragon.

"Hey, Spike."

Spike stood at the center of the room, his pose rigid. "It must've hit you pretty hard huh?"

"... yeah."

"Well, um, the funeral planning is going well. It's planned for the day after tomorrow."

Noticing she didn't respond, Spike sauntered to her side, noticing her eyes were closed and had bags under them.

"Did you sleep?"

"A little," she replied.

"Are you reading to not think about it?"

She remembered she still had a book open in front of her and stacks beside her. "Yeah," she sighed, shutting the book and floating it on the stack.

"You have to get some sleep, Twilight. You know how you are without sleep."

"Yeah. I'll try to get some tonight. "There was a brief pause before she spoke again. "I invited our friends for dinner in the garden tonight."

"When is it?"

"Six-thirty sharp. Will you be there?"

"Sure," Spike answered cheerfully.

"Well," Twilight said, standing up. "Let's finish the day."

Author's Note:

It seems it's inevitable. If only she had learned it sooner. So the next chapter is going to be the last. This story could've been way longer with a whole bunch of time travel shenanigans but I'm gonna be honest, I don't know if I'm ready for that. My caliber in writing is still fairly low. Which I hope doesn't result in a disappointing ending. Most of the time I don't really make elaborate plans, I just write to see what happens. Though sometimes I have a vision and I write to get to that vision. I'm kind of a hybrid but I lean towards freewriting. I wish I didn't because I've always wanted to write a twist ending. But I may release a bonus alternate ending I had in mind if I get around to it.