A New Home, an Old Home
The last rays of the setting sun shone into the hospital room, shining its light on a pegasus with a horn, a unicorn with wings, and a filly with a new lifespan.
Sweetie Belle busied herself with the task of testing her upgraded cardiovascular system by running laps around the room and climbing over the bed.
"Here are the discharge papers for Sweetie Belle," Doctor Shine said. "Her heart valve should last the rest of her life, which will be as long as either of ours, Princess willing. She did have major surgery, so she should avoid any strenuous activities or long-distance travel for at least six months."
Twilight glanced upward. "Like the moon?"
"Especially the moon. In fact, I think she shouldn't go there for nine months at the bare minimum."
At mention of the moon, Sweetie Belle zipped over. "We can go to the moon?! What's it like? Is it cold or warm? Is it made of cheese? Can we eat it?" She punctuated each question with a bounce.
Twilight stilled Sweetie by setting her forehoof on the filly's shoulder. "Now, now, you heard the doctor. We won't be able to visit the moon before we go. I'm sorry, Sweetie, I was looking forward to it, too."
Sweetie peered upwards. "Twilight? When are we leaving?"
Twilight shuffled her hoof. "Well, there's been a slight delay, so it'll take just a little while longer to put the apparatus back together. The Princess gave us a place for us to live until it's fixed, though. And I'm technically your mother now." She gave her 'daughter' an awkward grin.
Sweetie stared back. "What? How can you be my mom? Isn't my mom my mom?"
"Well yes, but somepony needs to take care of you until we go home. It's just to make the paperwork easier with us living together."
Sweetie scratched her chin. "I don't have to call you 'Mom,' do I?"
"Not if you don't want to, Sweetie Belle." Twilight paused, then tousled the filly's mane. "But you still have to do what I tell you."
"Before I leave you two to your familial bonding," Doctor Shine said, levitating a pill bottle, "I have Sweetie Belle's prescription here. Her mechanical heart valve creates a risk of forming a blood clot, which could break loose and produce a stroke or heart attack. As a precaution, I've prescribed her a blood thinner to reduce her ability to form clots. Any minor cuts and bruises Sweetie gets will still heal on their own; it will simply take a little longer." Doctor Shine pointed at Twilight's amulet. "However, I can't recommend that she fly. Any crashes could lead to internal injuries that could be life-threatening, especially since she doesn't have the durability of an earth pony, or the natural crash-avoidance or bracing instincts of a pegasus."
Twilight took the bottle with her levitation and peered at its contents. "How long will she need to take these?"
"Once a day for the rest of her life, of course."
Twilight pondered for a moment. "I don't think that'll be an issue, but I'll add that research to my checklist for when we go."
"What?!" Sweetie Belle stomped her hoof. "I have to take those dumb pills forever and I don't even get magic wings? No moon and no wings... this future stinks."
"We'll be leaving it soon, Sweetie Belle." Twilight smiled at the filly. "And Doctor Shine, thank you, so, so much for everything you've done. I can't begin to imagine what I would have done if I'd lost Sweetie Belle."
"It's been no problem at all, Miss Sparkle. Come back if you need anything, or if you have any questions, and have a safe trip home."
"I will!" Twilight walked out of the room with Sweetie Belle.
---
The rising moon peeked over the side of Canterlot Mountain, its light illuminating a pair of unicorns walking to their new home.
Sweetie Belle looked up at the stars. "So... no clouds?"
Twilight looked back down at her foster child. "None in Equestria, no."
"Where do the pegasi sleep, then?"
"In beds like the rest of us do, I suppose." Twilight looked at the house they'd arrived at. "This must be the place."
Sweetie Belle looked out over the short, grassy lawn at the dark house. The moonlight reflected off of the rounded white walls and its conical yellow roof. The modest residence sat at the edge of the city, away from the tall buildings of downtown.
Twilight's horn illuminated briefly and a strip of light on either side of the front walkway appeared. Another flash of her horn lit the underside of the house's overhangs.
The filly trotted to the front door and pushed it open. Within, she found a furnished living area. An unlit fireplace sat against the wall, and the opposite wall was flush with books.
Sweetie ran upstairs to explore. Twilight shouted after her, "Don't touch anything you don't understand!"
Upstairs, Sweetie Belle found a bathroom and a pair of bedrooms. She understood beds very well, so she duly complied with Twilight's instructions and began bouncing on hers. Twilight found her soon afterwards.
"Sweetie Belle, we just got that bed; please don't wear it out."
"Aww." She climbed down.
Twilight levitated a scroll in front of her face. "I've checked out the house, and everything appears to be in order. Princess Celestia left instructions on how to operate the appliances, as well as a full pantry and my first month's pay. As for you..." A few bits hovered over to Sweetie Belle's nightstand. "Here is your allowance for this week." Twilight produced a quill and checked off a box.
Sweetie Belle looked at her money. "...eight, nine, ten bits? Mom and Dad gave me fifteen."
"Oh, they did? Here you go, five more bits." Twilight paid the filly. Sweetie Belle gave a giant grin and hugged Twilight's foreleg.
Twilight referred to her checklist again. "Next on the list... dinner! Of course. I'm starving. There are some cookbooks in the dining room; the Princess certainly knew what I wanted in a house." She giggled. "I'm in the mood for some vegetables."
---
Sweetie Belle sat at the table, which was made out of some dark wood she didn't know the name of. Above her hung a modest silver chandelier, whose clear gems shone with some magical power. The walls were painted with a hint of yellow, with white trim and stronger yellow curtains blocking out the night.
Sweetie absent-mindedly poked at the cloth placemat in front of her. It was cotton, pink with a purple edge, and had grapes on it. In the center of the table, which was slightly too large for just two ponies to eat at, was a white round mat. The whole setup was more style than her parents fed her on, but less than her sister did. It was disconcerting, in its own way.
Before Sweetie Belle had a chance to examine her surroundings further, Twilight Sparkle came in levitating a bowl of fruits and steamed vegetables. She set the bowl down on the center placemat, and a plate at their respective seats.
"Here we are, Sweetie Belle. An arrangement of apricots, olives, and grapefruit, with a side of ginger root. I've never had this combination; they're not in season at the same time." Twilight closed her eyes and smiled. "But I guess with magic, they can harvest all year!"
"What season is it, anyways?" Sweetie asked.
"It's late spring."
"Oh."
Sweetie had to climb halfway across the table to reach the bowl to serve her plate, while Twilight used her magic to fetch her meal. They began to eat.
"You should take your hooves off the table, Sweetie Belle," Twilight instructed. The filly sat back in her chair.
The pair ate in silence for a few minutes.
Twilight decided to break the ice. "So, Sweetie Belle, how was your stay at the hospital?"
"Oh, there was lots of magic lights and gems and stuff... Doctor Shine was nice. And yesterday they brought some dogs to cheer the patients up... that was nice too."
More silence.
Sweetie looked across the table. "How was your day, Twilight?"
"Well, I got some of my research done, and I took a look at the apparatus that we took here. It's been damaged, so we'll be here a little while until I fix it. But we'll be home in no time. The Princess has made me the High Magician, just as a way to cut the red tape between me and the research materials. But I'll be heading towards the castle tomorrow, so you'll have the house to yourself. You've been left unsupervised before, so you can take care of yourself, right?"
"Oh sure, of course, Twilight!"
"And you'll have plenty to read, too!" Twilight smiled at the filly.
Sweetie rolled her eyes. "Joy."
After the two finished eating, Twilight again produced her checklist. "Next up, do the dishes. Here you go, Sweetie Belle." The bowl, plates, and silverware situated themselves in front of her.
Sweetie looked at the dishes. "Um uh, ooh! I know! What about dessert?"
Twilight tilted her head. "Dessert?"
Sweetie gestured dramatically. "I mean, I was just in a hospital, fighting for my life with my heart cut open and stuff like that." She angled herself so that her stitches were plainly visible to the older mare. "I'd think I deserve just a little dessert, right Twilight?"
"I didn't think of it that way. I'll see what we have." Twilight went into the kitchen. "How about ice cream?" she called back.
"Ooh! I'll take some vanilla!"
Twilight returned with a bowl of frozen sweetness. "Here you are, Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie Belle dug into the ice cream like a filly having ice cream for the first time in three and a half centuries. She looked up. "Twilight, why don't you do the dishes while I'm eating? That way we can get to bed sooner."
"That makes sense. Good idea, Sweetie Belle." Twilight took the dishes into the kitchen. Sweetie Belle's victory was cut short by the ice cream's freeze taking its terrible toll through her brain.
A few minutes later, there was another bowl to wash. Twilight took it to the kitchen before returning. "Next on tonight's list is... giving a filly a bath."
"But Twilight—"
"No buts! It's on the checklist! I'll get the water started."
---
Twilight tested the bathwater with her hoof. "Perfect! Get on in, Sweetie Belle."
"Oh no." Sweetie clasped her hoof to her chest. "My poor heart." She closed her eyes and staggered a step. "It can't handle the idea of taking a bath. I guess I'll just have to skip it tonight." She snuck a peek at Twilight.
"Aww that's too bad, Sweetie. But do you know what the doctor recommended for a speedier recovery?"
"Lots of candy?" Sweetie tilted her head, staring at Twilight with a hopeful smile.
Twilight Sparkle's horn illuminated. "Warm water!"
Sweetie Belle rose into the air. The flailing of her legs was useless against the power of the mightiest unicorn in Equestria. The bathwater swirled around the filly, soaking her coat to her skin. A strange concoction entered the bath, filling it with bubbles. Sweetie supposed that she already knew what a bubble bath was, but that didn't mean she had to like it.
The prisoner splashed water back at her aggressor, catching her off guard. The purple unicorn's face dripped with suds.
Twilight wiped herself off. "Sweetie Belle, you don't have to make this difficult." She levitated a sponge into the water and began to scrub the filly.
Seeing her chance, Sweetie Belle broke free from the wicked sponge and bucked a mighty wall of water towards the purple one. Alas, it struck an invisible wall and ran back into the tub. Sweetie Belle sulked in the bubbly water, defeated.
The filly made several more attempts at avoiding soap, shampoo, and overall cleanliness, but she was ultimately overcome by her far more powerful opponent. Having completed her foul work, the purple one drained the tub and magically lifted Sweetie Belle out of it. Being rubbed all over with a towel simply added insult to injury.
"I'm going to take a shower myself, Sweetie Belle, so why don't you brush your teeth and get ready for bed?"
Sweetie Belle grumbled her way to the sink while Twilight took her amulet off and started a much less arduous pony cleaning.
---
The clean filly lay in her bed, looking out the window at the starry sky beyond. Twilight Sparkle entered the room, with a towel wrapped around her head, and another around her tail.
"Are you ready to go to sleep, Sweetie Belle? You've had a long day."
"Yeah..." Sweetie Belle yawned.
Twilight tucked the white filly in. "Goodnight, then." She began to leave the room.
"Wait. Twilight?"
The mare turned around. "What is it, Sweetie Belle?"
"Can you read me a bedtime story?"
Twilight walked to a small bookshelf in one corner of the bedroom. "Of course. Here's one." She sat by the bed, book levitating in front of her.
Twilight Sparkle began to read: "Once upon a time, there was a little red earth filly named Riding Hood. Now, this filly lived in a village by the Everfree Forest..."
---
"...and then the lumberjack cut the timberwolf apart and Riding Hood and her grandmother tumbled out. And the three ponies burned the timberwolf in their fireplace and enjoyed the basket of sweets. And they lived happily ever after. The End." Twilight closed the book.
Twilight Sparkle looked at Sweetie Belle, who was fast asleep. She smiled. "Goodnight, Sweetie Belle."
Twilight leaned down and kissed the base of Sweetie's horn. She slowly left the room, turning off the light as she left.
---
The next day, Sweetie Belle awoke. She yawned and stretched her legs while her mind caught up to where she was. She wandered out of her room, finding her way downstairs to the dining. Upon the table, an unfurled scroll caught her attention.
Sweetie Belle,
I'm sorry I didn't wake you up; I had to leave early for my first day as High Magician. You have the house to yourself, so try to keep it clean. Don't try to turn on the stove or the oven by yourself. There are plenty of books around the house for you to read.
I've made a checklist of things you should do today:
Morning:
☐ Eat your breakfast. I've written another list of potential meals and have placed it on the refrigerator.
☐ Take your heart pill. The bottle is on the counter.
☐ Brush your teeth.
☐ Comb your mane and tail.
Sweetie didn't read any farther. She looked up at the chandelier, then around the walls for a switch to turn it on. She didn't find one. Neither did any of Twilight's notes leave instructions.
Sweetie Belle scratched her head. "How do I turn on the light?"
---
Twilight Sparkle stood at Princess Celestia's side in her throne room. Orange light filtered into the stained-glass windows as the sun rose. A beam of sunlight also shone straight down onto the throne. Twilight couldn't figure out what spell made it do that, but at the moment, she was busy with her nose in a copy of Duration Skewing: The Long and the Short of It, one of Starswirl's earlier works.
"Twilight," the Princess said, "we will have our first guest soon, and it is impolite to read while we have company."
"Oh, sorry Princess." Twilight set the book down and pushed it behind her with her hind leg. "Is the outfit necessary, though, Princess? I'm wearing more than you are."
Twilight was clad in a moderately elaborate dark blue robe, lined with white stars. While it covered her cutie mark and magic wings, a pair of cloth cutie marks had been sewn into it in the appropriate places. She also wore a short pointed hat with a wide brim. It too sported the star pattern.
Twilight patiently waited for the first appointment of her new office. Her hat tilted forwards. She pushed it back into place. It fell forward again. She tilted it back. It shifted again. Twilight noticed a quick yellow glow.
She looked at Princess Celestia, who had suddenly become fascinated by the alternating sunbeam and starfield pattern on the ceiling.
Princess Celestia's crown tilted to the side. She looked at the unicorn, who met her with a grin. Twilight's hat popped off of her head, and the Princess's crown turned backwards.
Twilight's hat landed on her head again, then made its way towards her rump. Celestia's crown launched itself across the room.
The throne room door opened inches away from the golden crown. A pair of flashes instantly brought the headgear back to their rightful places, and the two ponies were the very image of dignity.
"Ambassador Chestnut of the Donkey Kingdom is here to see you, Princess."
"Send him in," Celestia replied.
The door opened fully and a donkey entered. Chestnut's mane was well-groomed, and he wore a black suit with a white shirt beneath and a black tie.
Ambassador Chestnut crossed the room and bowed before the Princess. "Princess Celestia," he said, "it is an honor to meet you again." He turned to Twilight. "And you must be the new High Magician I have heard about. Twilight Sparkle, is it?"
Twilight nodded, trying to act as formal as she could. "That's correct."
"Allow me to satisfy my curiosity. I hear rumors that you are a sorceress of immense power and beauty from the distant past, struck down in her prime, and resurrected to serve the Princess yet again. From your appearance it must have been quite the prime indeed."
Chestnut hooked his foreleg around Twilight's, lifting hers up. Twilight nervously glanced between him and the Princess. He leaned down towards her raised hoof.
Princess Celestia loudly cleared her throat. "Ambassador Chestnut, I assume you have not traveled all this way from your land to court my Magician."
The donkey backed away from the unicorn. "Of course, Your Highness. My apologies, High Magician Sparkle."
Twilight subconsciously rubbed the front of her foreleg against the back of her other one. "It's no trouble at all, Ambassador."
"Now," Princess Celestia started, "what brings you to my castle?"
"I have come to negotiate the sale of the experimental amulets for my homeland. I am prepared to offer eight thousand two hundred bits per unit."
"Eight hundred and twenty thousand bits total? That is quite a sum, Ambassador. However, as I have told your king in my letters, the amulets are not for sale."
"Surely granting the powers of flight and magic to more equines can only do good, Princess. Perhaps a sum of nine hundred and eighty thousand bits would be more amenable, Your Majesty?"
Celestia's expression didn't waver. "My answer is still no, Ambassador Chestnut."
The donkey turned to Twilight. "Perhaps the stunning High Magician could give her opinion."
Two sets of eyes pointed at the unicorn. Twilight glanced at her mentor's face. "Well... I believe that even a small number of amulets would improve donkey society more than no amulets would."
Princess Celestia closed her eyes and turned away, exhaling. Twilight's ears dropped.
Ambassador Chestnut moved back in front of Celestia. "I see you have chosen an advisor as wise as she is beautiful. And you would be wiser still, Princess, to follow her advice."
Celestia opened her eyes again. "They are not for sale, and that is final, Ambassador Chestnut. You may leave us now, and I wish you a safe return to your homeland."
The donkey bowed and backed away. "As you wish, Princess Celestia. It was a pleasure to meet you, Magician Sparkle." He backed out of the throne room, closing the door.
Twilight paused for a moment before looking up at the Princess. "Princess Celestia... did I do something wrong?"
Princess Celestia looked back at Twilight. "No, Twilight, you did not know. You see, Twilight, while the amulets work very well and are quite reliable on ponies, we have had less success adapting them to other species. While most of our efforts have gone into giving magic to the griffons, the donkey amulets have proven the easiest to develop. Even then, the amulets are unreliable and prone to failure."
Twilight looked down, her mind in motion. "So if a flight or magic amulet fails..." She touched her flight amulet.
"...it could prove disastrous, or even fatal. You have nothing to worry about, Twilight. You are a pony, and the pony amulets are perfectly safe. But you see why we cannot give them to the donkeys yet."
"But wouldn't it be better to warn them of the dangers, and let them help test the prototypes?" She looked back up.
"As the non-pony amulets are rare, they tend to... get lost in the mail, so to speak. And the black market is rife with them. Some are legitimate prototypes, some are pony amulets with amateur spells applied, some are merely rocks with a glitter finish. But none are safe to use by unwary buyers. And I do not wish to encourage their illicit trade."
"I see. I'm sorry for doubting you, Princess. But I suppose that I won't be here in the future long enough for it to really matter."
Princess Celestia stepped off of her throne, walked to Twilight's side, and wrapped her wing around the unicorn. "Twilight, you need to stop thinking of this as the future. You are in the present. I appreciate your sentiment, but you must face the facts: you will never see your time again. None of us will.
"Instead of thinking about the Equestria of the past, you should be thinking about the Equestria of the future. Centuries ahead from now, not from then. With your power and your knowledge, you can be very influential on how Equestria will look in another three hundred and fifty years. You can do a great amount of good for ponykind if you set your mind to it.
"You cannot change the past, Twilight. But you can change the future."
Twilight shuffled her wings beneath her robe, taking a moment to think. "I... I understand what you mean, Princess. But I've sent plenty of letters to you about how wonderful it is to have my friends, and I don't intend to abandon them now."
Princess Celestia turned away. "Very well, Twilight Sparkle. Research what you wish," she said, walking back to her throne.
Twilight paused, then brought her book back out and continued to read.
Her hat tilted forward.
---
The afternoon sun found Twilight Sparkle in the castle courtyard. She spread her wings and ran across the grass, flapping vigorously. She could feel her hoofsteps lightening.
Her hind legs left the ground first, leaving her forelegs to take her remaining weight, efficiently shifting her center of gravity to a position not at all conducive to flight.
Twilight picked herself up and brushed the dirt off of her body. She smiled awkwardly at the gathered onlookers and waved them off.
She steeled herself for her next attempt, pawing at the ground. She took a deep breath. Twilight broke into a sprint, concentrating on her wings, which flapped furiously. This time, she carefully balanced the load on her front and rear halves.
Twilight Sparkle left the ground. She pulled into a steep ascent to clear the wall. A smack to her right hind leg signaled her failure to make it entirely over. Twilight sucked air in through gritted teeth.
She started to turn her head to look, but she nearly lost her balance. Twilight moved her leg back and forth; nothing felt broken. She could only hope that she didn't crack her hoof.
At two attempts, this was her most successful takeoff to date. Tuesday had been just embarrassing, for instance. Twilight was sure that flying would be exhilarating if it wasn't so difficult.
Soaring gracelessly over Canterlot, Twilight looked out over the plain, spotting in the distance a multitude of colored buildings. Ponyville sat on the edge of the Everfree, the only trees in sight, with thick black clouds obscuring the view of the forest's interior, as if to compensate for their lack of kin in the pony-controlled lands.
From the air, Twilight could also see rows of long buildings, and shimmering blue lines criss-crossing the town.
She looked down, refreshing her mental map of Canterlot. She descended to her house at the edge of town, and braced herself for the most difficult part of any flight. The lawn rose to meet the pony pulling out of her dive too late.
Twilight smacked into the grass, rolled across the lawn, and impacted the side of the house.
Moments later, Sweetie Belle ran out. "What was—Twilight! Are you okay?!"
Twilight wavered in and out of awareness. "Hey Sweetie Belle did you know that the average adult female pegasus can hover for approximately four hundred consecutive seconds while carrying a load of twenty kilograms I should really learn how to do that."
"Twilight?"
Twilight braced her forehooves against the wall and pushed, releasing with a pop. She looked back at the lawn. Brown gouges marked her landing strip. She was sure that would grow back. Twilight looked at the wall. Her horn had left a narrow but deep indentation in it. She didn't think that would grow back.
Twilight shook her head and got to three of her hooves. "Rainbow Dash has a saying... 'Any landing you walk away from is a good landing.'" She took a few steps. "Yup, that was a good landing." She rubbed her horn, which was still intact. "So, what have you been up to today, Sweetie Belle?"
Sweetie turned slightly towards the house. "Oh, you know, reading, books, more reading, more books, some more books, and some reading, since there's nothing else to do in there."
"Did you read anything interesting?" Twilight smiled.
"Oh yes, the books were simply fascinating." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "I can't wait to read some more."
"I was planning on taking the train to see Ponyville, but if you'd rather—"
Sweetie Belle zipped in front of Twilight. "No no no! I want to see Ponyville! Let's see Ponyville!" She peered at Twilight's hind leg, which hovered slightly off the ground. "But are you sure you'll be all right?"
Twilight shook the leg in question. "This? I'm sure it'll feel better once I can sit down on the train."
"But what about the walk to the station? Won't you—"
Twilight's horn lit up and a wave of purple swept across the pair of unicorns.
---
Twilight stood with Sweetie Belle on the platform, lightly loaded with saddlebags. She had to make another trip back to get the train fare, but everything had worked out. The refreshingly familiar sound of a steam whistle echoed in the distance.
"Next train to Ponyville approaching on platform two!" a conductor called. "Please stand back!"
The whistle sounded again, closer this time, and Twilight could see the locomotive coming around the curve. Strangely enough, the train looked just as she'd remembered: only a few rounded corners indicated that it hadn't traveled through time with Twilight. It wasn't until it approached the platform that Twilight noticed that the train did not have wheels.
The rails on the ground looked the same, the train simply hovered above them with a faint magical glow. The train silently slid up to the platform. The conductor magically opened the doors and ponies filed out of the train.
"All aboard to Ponyville!" the conductor called.
Twilight limped onto the train, Sweetie Belle beside her. Twilight situated herself down on one of the seats. She noticed that it was a lot softer than the seats she remembered were. The train car tilted ever so slightly as it accelerated out of the station.
Sweetie Belle stood with her forehooves propped on the window, watching the scenery go by. Twilight busied herself massaging her leg and inspecting the interior. It was very similar to the trains back in her time. She half-limped up and down the car, more confident in her ability to walk.
A minute later, Sweetie Belle piped up. "Hey, we're almost to Ponyville!"
"Sweetie Belle, it takes longer than this to get to Ponyville," Twilight replied. She turned towards the filly and opened her mouth to continue, but her words died in her throat. Outside, the landscape blurred past. The horizon rose as the train banked around a curve. Nearby shrubs flicked past outside the window before the train returned to level.
"It's amazing, Twilight! I've never gone this fast in my life!" Sweetie's eyes were glued to the glass.
The train began to decelerate. "Next stop, Ponyville!" a conductor shouted. "Please make sure to take your belongings with you as you depart!"
Twilight looked out the window at a long building passing by. It was white with large windows showing a field of red, with the occasional green poking through.
Before she could analyze it any closer, the train came to a stop, letting its passengers off. Twilight tested her weight on her hind leg; it still hurt but seemed acceptable to walk on. She and Sweetie Belle exited the train.
"All aboard for Las Pegasus!"
The two unicorns left the train station. Twilight turned around to get a better look at the building she had seen earlier, the train gliding away in front of it. The red she had seen turned out to be floor-to-ceiling fruit. At the top of the building, in large blue letters, was the phrase SWEET APPLE ACRES. The building next to it held oranges. The next, grapes. If her view from Canterlot was any indication, the entirety of the fields had become these magiponic farms.
Twilight could only imagine the words that Applejack would have if she'd seen those.
Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle had wandered over to one of the blue lines, which turned out to be an aqueduct. Water rushed through the stone-lined ditch, and Sweetie hung on the railing at the edge. Twilight quickly hobbled over and pulled her down.
"I was just trying to get a better look." Sweetie Belle pouted.
Below them, the artificial river brought water to the farm buildings. Curious, Twilight began to follow it towards its source, beckoning Sweetie Belle to come along. Twilight thought that she knew Ponyville by heart. In the distance to the right should have been Sugarcube Corner, but a furniture store stood there instead. As they walked, they passed where Carousel Boutique should have been. It was a sports equipment store now.
Her library. Twilight had spent countless hours there, with her friends over for everything from slumber parties to organizing the next seasonal change to saving the world.
There were no more friends to have slumber parties with. No more seasons to change. And a world that did not need to be saved.
Twilight Sparkle could not bear to look at where her home had once stood.
Soon, the ponies reached the edge of the Everfree Forest. The air ahead was thick with magic. The aqueduct continued past the glowing haze and into the woods.
An earth mare came up to them. "Can I help you, misses...?"
"Twilight Sparkle, and my..." She suppressed a giggle. "...daughter, Sweetie Belle."
"Riptide, Ponyville Waterworks. Is there something you needed?"
"I'm sorry, I'm just"—it pained her to say it—"new to Ponyville, and I was curious about what all these channels are for."
"They take the water out of the Everfree Rainforest, of course. It rains there, we collect it, and distribute it, primarily to Sweet Apple Acres. The remainder is magically injected into the aquifer."
Sweetie looked up. "So this is how all the grass gets watered?"
"That's right!" Riptide began to address the filly instead. Twilight was thankful to avoid the embarrassment of having to be lectured on how the basics of the world worked. "Although most of our water goes to Sweet Apple Acres. The coastal cities provide most of the water to the rest of Equestria. They take the salt out of the ocean water first, of course." The mare winked.
"Of course!" Sweetie winked back.
"Has your mother shown you how to use the dowsing spell?"
"No. I... can't do magic yet." Sweetie turned away with an embarrassed flush.
"Here, let me show you then." Riptide dug in her saddlebag, producing a purple amulet. She put it on and the familiar translucent horn appeared on her head. She walked away from the aqueduct. "First, you get a sense for the water below..." Her horn lit up. "Then you... oof... nngh... pull it... up to... the surface... there!" A jet of water squirted out of the ground at the panting mare's hooves. "It's a little tricky for us amulet-users to get it, but you're a natural unicorn; it'll be a lot easier for you. You can dowse anywhere in Equestria like that if you find yourself in need."
"Wow, Twilight!" Sweetie Belle turned to her. "Isn't that great? I bet that's how they get the water up to Canterlot!"
"That's right!" Twilight hoped that was right. "Thank you, Miss Riptide. This was very educational... for Sweetie Belle, I mean."
She turned to leave, but she saw something that made her freeze in her tracks. She looked at a hill. Empty except for the grass, it looked like any other hill. But Twilight knew that hill. That was Fluttershy's hill. The one her house used to be on. The one her animals frolicked around. Now bare. Twilight's friend would never sing there again.
"Twilight?" Sweetie Belle tugged at her foreleg. "I'm getting tired. Can we head back home?"
Twilight looked down at the filly. "Yes, Sweetie Belle, we'll go home.
"I promise."
---
The train glided back into Canterlot Grand Central Station as the sun sank below the horizon. Outside, Twilight was surprised to find Princess Celestia waiting for her.
"Pardon my coming to meet you here, but I needed help with the national budget and I'd heard that you had left the city. How was your trip?"
Twilight bowed slightly. "It was... a learning experience, Princess. Actually, on the way back, I got to wondering: is there such a thing as an earth pony amulet?"
"They are certainly possible, Twilight. Although there is little use in having one: they grant neither strength nor durability."
"I know, Princess. But can you get me one? A combination earth and pegasus amulet, if it's possible."
"I shall see what I can do."
Twilight, Sweetie, and the Princess walked out of the station. "Did you learn anything of interest in Ponyville, Twilight?" Celestia asked.
Twilight stopped.
"Yes, Princess, I have. I learned... that the town I visited was not Ponyville."
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Excellent! I loved that fact that they went back to Ponyville and everything was different.
Pretty much all I have to say about that is "Shit man, everything is so... different
"
-Silverness
Mustache for you
My justification of beating up Dr. Whooves fans is renewed!
Just finished reading the first three chapters then BAM another one, I was quite please :3
Awesome. Depressing, but Awesome.
Man, princess celestia has a rather defeatist attitude. Way to be a downer.
I must totally agree with Twilight on that. That was not Ponyville. At all.
May the Grace of the Valar Protect You
Shire Folk
So Ponyville is radically different than what it was?
That seems about right.
What doesn't seem right is that they didn't run into a single descendant of any of their friends.
I find it very hard to believe that not one of the remaining Mane 6, Cutie Mark Crusaders, or at least a background pony like Lyra or Cheerilee, or even just somepony who knew Twilight or Sweetie Belle didn't stay in Ponyville, raise a family, and still have relatives living there.
I mean come on, unless Pinkie married the most boring stallion in all the land, you'd think just one great-great-great-etc. grandchild wouldn't have some rudimentary Pinkie Sense to tell them that Twilight had returned.
However, this does leave open the possibility that something terrible happened to the Mane 6 at a later date, and Celestia isn't telling Twilight this.
1962130
Ya've peaked my interest, what do you mean by th't? Ah assure Ah'm no ally to Dr. Whooves.
Twighlight give up you can't change the past....
Unless celestia is lieing to twighlight because twighlight try's to go back in time and dies so celestia is trying to change the past?
Or I'm just crazy!!
"Equestria became so busy trying to advance that it advanced beyond it's own soul. I look around, and I see a world that despite being so... easy on it's subjects, it's boring. Pointless. No spontaneity, no joyous wonders anymore. Applejack's farm replaced by a food factory. The strangeness of the Everfree strangled and beaten merciless. No soothing of the summer rain against the window as you read, no wonder at seeing a Rainbow rolling off a cloud. Nor the sweetness of an apple picked fresh from the tree. The love and magic of friendship is starting to die from the world, Princess. It's being murdered by technology and the endless pursuit of more and better. Ponies... forgetting how to be ponies. I don't know if I could have lived if I knew this was to come."
Still greatness. Ah can only plead th't you keep this up!
I liked the chapter.
I wonder if any of
the Mane 6'sTwilight's friends have any descendants running aroundyou know while twilight and sweetie belle are in the future i would like to see a chapter or two about how everyone back in ponyville is dealing with twilights absence and finally going through death.
For some reason I did not find this that depressing, but that is just your writing style. I hope my feelings are correct for the end chapter that is....
What if Dante from Clerks visited Twilight and Sweetie Belle in the future?
not a bad chapter at all, i'm wondering what twilight wants an earth pony amulet for, maybe something to do with getting back home.
i was a bit surprised that Twilight didn't go looking for where her friends were laid to rest.
will you have twilight do that in a later chapter?
Hnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng right in the feels!
D:
The ebil future. Nuuuuuuuuuuuuu~
I cant take these feels.
Its a great story but there are much to many feels.
YES UPDATE
You can't go home again.
It was nice to see Sweetie Belle taking a greater role.
It is also kind of interesting that the ponies find earth pony magic not amulet worthy but it is something twilight is VERY interested in.
this is something My family is PAINFULLY Familiar with, my dad having to go to the VA AntiCoag Clinic every 1 to 4 weeks (depending on the INR from the last visit.) if he keeps eating Vitamin K Rich Foods to a Minimum, he doesn't have to go for essentially a Month. I also know the feeling of a Town Vastly Changing over a Period of time.
i don't like thinking about the mane 6 being dead
Wait. Couldn't Twilight find out who the Mane 6's descendants are?
You should probably take how bucking excited I got when I saw this was updated as a compliment. Love the fic, keep it up.
1962260
1962740
If each pony has children at the age of 25, then over 350 years there would have been 14 generations of pony. If each of Twilight's friends had 2 children, and each of those children had 2 children, then there would be about 2^14*5 = approx. 82,000 descendants by now.
It's a safe bet that most of Ponyville are their descendants.
That is totally acceptable, but you don't think that just one of the presumably hundreds of ponies who saw TS and SB as they walked through town recoginized them out of either an old family legend (especially if they were descendants of Rarity and the CMC) or just saw Twilight in a history book? I mean, she's a bearer of one elements of Harmony and was Celestia's personal student. Even 300+ years in the future, some history buff or nerd must have recognized her surely.
Celestia seems stupid in this, I think she must be going senile to think that ponies can take care of themselves. Surprised that there hasn't been any crazy industrial smog yet or something. Silly amulets make nobody special.
Maybe Twilight DID go back, but Celestia doesn't want to lose her again so soon? Oh time, you so confusing.
1962783
That is a lot of kids.
Holy shiz nuggets.
Yup *sniff* that was rather sad.
I REALLY hope you're not trying to pass those hat shenanigans off as "epic magical dueling".
Nice job, wonder what Sweetie is going to learn at school (do they even ahve school?).
Wow....this is giving me feels....I hope it ends well though. Would hate to be depressed....
In reality a reconstructed valve would grow with the rest of the heart and repair itself. While a mechanical one would have to be replaced frequently in a child and regularly in an adult.
Don't forget the risk of rejection that's always present with foreign objects in the body!
Yea, mechanical body parts suck.
Ah the high progress of Technology, perfection Incarnate.
Not as one remembers, but how it is now and how it's fixed things.
Who needs special pills for blood when you can use leeches?
I'm supposed to be thinking happy thoughts!
Blind-sided by feels.
1962365 My guess is that Twilight is not going looking for her friends beause to do so would be accept and cement that they are now dead. It is a coping mechanism for her while she is unwilling to admit that they are stuck here,
1962242 The Princess knows Twilight doesn't make it home because she saw it not happen with her own eyes.
That doesn't meant Twilight doesn't manage to travel back in time and spend the rest of her life in Saddle Arabia in disguise or something though.
1962783 That's assuming 2 each, it gets really terrifying if you say 3 or more.
Poor Sweet Apple Acres. I think that THAT would be the hardest to take for me. Granny Smith would be rolling in her grave about that future and I don't see AJ as being any more pleased about it.
I really wish you'd gone with AB, your Sweetie just doesn't seem right to me, she seems more like Scoots most of the time.
In reality, properly dosing an anticoagulant is an involved procedure that requires repeated tests and careful dosage adjustments over time. In reality, there are no talking flying magical horses, either.
OMG another author who explain how real world things work.
Much appreciated
1963319 Or a Lancet
So Celestia is even more laid back in the future, eh?
An update!! yaay!!
Loved everything in that chapter!!
1962333 I'm not so sure that would be the case. Sure, Twilight jumped forward in time to a new timeline, but that timeline is where she wasn't present 350 years before. I am positive that the future would change if Twilight did manage to get back, and she would be almost stopped by the Princess, or others who don't want their lives changed. Of course, I don't think that Twilight wouldn't care about them, but her priority is to get back home, and I don't think Void Chicken would be a d*** so much as to write that Twilight and Sweetie Belle would have to stay. In the end, I don't think that Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash would have to live without Twilight; She will make it home.
I hope.
Well, here are my opinions about where this will go:
Twilight will find a way to make it possible to go to their time, but only for one pony. Twilight will insist that Sweetie Belle must be the one who goes back, while the young one will say that she can't go back because of her pills; she needs to stay in the future because she will run out of them in the past. So, finally Twilight decides to stay with her in the future, while sending a letter to the past to their friends, explaining the situation.
I hope the next chapter comes out sooner.
Brilliant! This made me laugh!
And Celestia thinks Earth Pony magic is useless? No wonder Equestria doesn't work naturally anymore.
Love your author's note, too. A bit of a hit back to those who made comments about Sweetie's heart tests, hey? Nice one. Lol.
I absolutely loved the hat shenanigans.
