The Thousand Year Change

by Darthvalgaav

Return to the Beginning

Applejack was the first to stir on what felt like hardwood floor. She could hear excited, concerned voices that seemed far away. There were three of them, two female voices and one male. All of them were familiar, but her head was so groggy that she was having a hard time trying to figure out who they belonged to. In fact, her entire thought process felt like it was mush at the moment yet was getting better with each passing second. As she opened her eyes Applejack realized she was on her back looking up at three silhouetted figures. She tried to move, but the largest of the three placed a gentle hoof on her.

“Be still Applejack,” said a calming voice. “We had to pull you out rather roughly and do not know the extent of the damages done to you or your friends.” Hearing that something had happened to her friends, the possibility that they were all hurt, did not calm the earth mare down at all. Instead, adrenaline rushed through her body to accelerate her thinking process.

Her eyes began to focus more, allowing her to better see the figures around her. The large one, the one who had spoken, was Princess Celestia who was looking down at her with a clearly worried expression. Standing next to her was Princess Luna who looked more like she was observing the situation, keeping an eye out for anything that seemed off. Lastly there as Spike, looking a bit more relieved than Celestia but still somewhat worried. However, Applejack was a bit confused as she looked at him. Her memories were a bit hazy, but she was sure the last time she had seen him he had lost his scales.

Tilting her head slightly, Applejack began to take in more of the area she was in. It was a room made out of wood, with books lining the shelves that had been carved into the walls of the building. She knew at once that this was the Ponyville Library. But how did she get from the moon back to Ponyville? Before she could think of anything else, she saw that there were others in the library. Laying on the floor were the rest of her friends who also appeared to be stirring. Around all of them, including herself, Applejack spotted symbols written into the floor. And there, in the middle of the room, was a large purple crystal.

Seeing it made Applejack’s heart rate sky rocket as memories began to flood her mind. She remembered coming here to Twilight’s library because she wanted to show them a new spell. A ‘what if’ spell. And that crystal was important for some reason that she couldn’t remember! But, it looked a bit different now that she thought about it. There was now a large crack in it, visible from even where she lay at this moment.

“What in tarnation?” began Applejack as she slowly tried to get up. Her legs, however, for some reason felt weak and her head was throbbing something fierce. It felt like she was about to fall over when Spike appeared at her side to keep her on her hooves.

“Don’t push yourself so much,” he said. As he kept Applejack balanced, most of the others on the floor began to awaken as well. One by one, they opened their eyes to look around in utter confusion. The only one who was still struggling to wake up was Twilight who now had wings as well as a horn.

“How did we get back here?” asked Fluttershy after she had quickly looked around the room.

“The last thing I remember was that we were on the moon, talking about Twilight’s upcoming wedding before that…that thing appeared in the sky,” commented Rarity as she tried to slowly stand up. “Next thing I know everything goes white and I wake up on the floor. Dear me, I must look like a mess.”

“Forget what you look like,” snapped Rainbow as she too tried to get up. “We have to let everypony back on the moon now tha-” The pegasus then noticed where she was and, much like Applejack, began to remember Twilight’s spell. “Ok, what the hay is going on here?”

“And please don’t say it was all a dream,” said a deadpanned Pinkie Pie as she crossed her hooves. “That’s like totally the worst way this story could end.” The others stared at her for a moment, the pink mare’s expression shifting more towards confusion. “What?”

“Well,” began Spike. “This all started when you all came over to check up on Twilight because you hadn’t seen her in a while. When you got here, she explained how she had been working on a spell that would allow ponies to view a ‘what if’ situation. Do you all remember that?”

“I…believe so,” said Fluttershy as she closed her eyes, thinking hard. The murkiness of her mind was beginning to clear, yet that did little to ease her confusion. She could remember that day pretty well as well as the rest of her past. But, it was like there were other memories in there from another lifetime. One somewhat similar to her normal ones.

“I remember,” said Applejack who still had a hoof to her head, her memories as clear as Fluttershy’s. “But ah reckon something went wrong?”

“I think so,” said Spike honestly. “At first, when Twilight activated the spell, nothing seemed to happen. Then a bunch of tentacles shot out of the crystal and attached themselves to your foreheads. After that, you were all sucked into the crystal. I didn’t know if that was supposed to happen or not, but I thought I should inform the Princesses just to be on the safe side.” As he finished, he gestured to the two standing alicorns. “At the time, I was afraid I might be interrupting something important.”

The two sisters shared a look.

-x-Flashback-x-

Princess Celestia sat on her favorite balcony, the one that gave her a perfect view of both Canterlot and Ponyville, as she calmly sipped her tea. She knew that at this very moment, petitioners were lining up outside the castle, wishing to speak to her on various subjects. Most likely first in line would be Blueblood, coming to her to complain about not being turned into an alicorn himself or some other trifle that was slightly annoying him. Following that, there were also several other meetings she had scheduled throughout the day, ranging from a presentation on the national budget to several event planning sessions. All in all this would be a rather taxing, boring day.

Before she dealt with all of that, Celestia would need a calming moment like this. In front of her was the newspaper, the Canterlot Daily, open to the crossword puzzles so she could enjoy a game that would also keep her mind sharp. Next to it was a half eaten slice of cake she had saved from last night. There were no dire threats to her nation or some other crisis that would require her to act. Her sister was safe and in the castle, most likely asleep in her bed after a long night. Twilight was conducting a new magical study which she would enjoy reading about once it was finished. As Celestia set down her teacup while looking down at her newspaper, she felt like there was nothing that could get in the way of this perfect moment.

It was then that there was a knock on her door, causing the princess’s ears to flatten against her head in slight irritation at being disturbed during her private time. ‘Should have known this was too good to be true,’ she thought wearily as she took a deep, calming breath.

“Enter,” she said as she folded the Canterlot Daily. As she turned her head to see who it was, Celestia was delightedly surprised to see Luna entering her chambers. “Luna, how good to see you still up and about. What brings you here this early in the day?”

“I wished to speak with you,” said Luna, appearing a bit nervous as she looked away. “If that’s alright with you.”

“Of course, of course,” replied Celestia with a smile, her horn lighting up to teleport a pillow on the opposite side of the table. “Please, sit sister and tell me what is on your mind. Would you like some tea? Or perhaps some cake? I could call up the castle staff and have them whip something up.”

“There is no need,” replied Luna, who had moved over to the provided pillow while Celestia had been talking and sat down.

“Very well,” said Celestia as she put some cake on her fork and took a bite. “But if you should change your mind please let me know. Now, what would you like to talk to me about?”

“Well,” began Luna as she tapped the table with her hoof. “I have been thinking a lot lately of Shining Armor.”

Celestia grinned. “Oh, Luna. You should know better than that. He’s already taken. A bit late to propose your feelings for him.”

Luna scowled at this while her cheeks went red with embarrassment. “Sister,” she said in a warning tone.

“Sorry, but I couldn’t help it,” giggled Celestia as she placed a hoof over her mouth. “You should really see the look on your face right now. It’s priceless!”

Luna cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sure it is for you,” she said in a deadpanned voice. “But getting back on topic, I was thinking that since he is so far away from Canterlot it will be far more difficult for him to continue to do his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard.”

Celestia smiled as she levitated her tea cup to her mouth and took a sip. “I agree,” she said as she set the cup down. “While Shining Armor has done an excellent job as Captain, him being so far away will make it harder on all of us if there were ever an emergency. We can’t send him a letter via magic and wait for him to catch the next train while hoping the threat will wait long enough for him to get here.”

Luna seemed to visibly relax. “So you agree with me,” she said, watching as Celestia nodded. “I am relieved to hear that. I feared that I would have to fight you on this and the last thing I want right now is for us to have an argument. Well then, perhaps we should think about who will be succeeding him then.” Her horn then lit up before several folders appeared on the table. Each one of them had a name, rank, and picture of a pony within the Guard. “I have several candidates that I believe will make a worthy choice.”

“No need,” said Celestia as she picked up her tea cup once more with her magic. “I have already decided on who will be taking up the post of Captain of the Royal Guard.”

“You…decided this without me?” asked Luna, unable to hide the hurt on her face. “But-”

“Don’t worry,” said Celestia calmly as she sipped her tea. “I have done this plenty of times before and I have complete faith in Stareye’s abilities. Trust m-” Celestia stopped herself in mid sentence as she took note of her sister and realized what she was about to do. Ignoring her sister and her council, making all of the decisions just like she did before…before she lost Luna for a thousand years.

A wave of guilt washed over her as she eyed the folders on the table, which were now being gathered by Luna in her magic. She then looked up at her sister to find that her head was lowered, not really looking at anything as finished gathering the files that Celestia had not even bothered to really look at. Luna had clearly stayed up later than she usually did just to talk to her about this; something she felt was important and wanted to be a part of. And Celestia treated her like a little sister rather than her equal.

“Well,” said Celestia quickly, before Luna could get up and leave. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to see if there were any potential candidates that I might have overlooked. Are these your picks?”

For a moment, Luna stared at Celestia in utter disbelief. As if she couldn’t believe that Celestia was considering listening to her. Then, for a split second, a smile appeared on her face before it became more businesslike. Once again the files were spread across the table so that Celestia could get a better look.

“Indeed,” replied Luna with a hint of glee in her voice. “I have gone over many of these files and I have found these ponies to be exceptional. Lieutenant Aerial Ace has been training many of our troops for a number of years and his records show that he has given much to Equestria during his tour of duty. I believe that it would be cruel of us not to reward such loyalty and dedication. Then there is Private Hot Pants. Lieutenant Aerial Ace has reported himself that she has a talent for leadership and is good with on the spot thinking. While she does lack confidence, when the Changeling Invasion occurred she rose wonderfully to the occasion. I believe she could settle into this role wonderfully. But this one is the one I feel is best suited for the job.” With that, Luna pushed one of the files forwards with her own hooves, almost pushing Celestia’s cake off the table in the process.

Celestia eyed the picture attached to the file. “A bat pony?” she questioned before giving Luna a look. “You want to make a member of the Night Guard Captain? You better not be playing favorites here.”

“I am not,” said Luna in a matter of fact tone. “But I am surprised that in a thousand years there has never been a bat pony Captain, despite the Night Guard’s loyal service to Equestria even after I was banished.”

Celestia flattened her ears against her skull as she looked away, not wanting to inform her sister of a little piece of history that she was not particularly proud of. “A-Are you saying that we should give him the job just for that?” she asked quickly. “Other members of the Guard have been just as loyal.”

“Well,” began Luna as she took a breath. “I am glad to see that things have improved so much for the bat ponies since my exile. Ponies might give them a second look, but beyond that they have little trouble finding employment or housing. But remembering how much hardship they endured in the past, it is surprising that they have served this country in the way that they have been. Sure, eighty nine percent of the past Captain of Guard have been unicorns, there have been a few pegasi and even an earth pony or two. No bat ponies!

“But that is not the only reason I have selected this stallion. Celestia, his records speak for itself. All I ask is that you look at them, as well as the rest of the files I have brought, and make an informed decision.”

Celestia let out a small sigh before lifting the bat pony’s file up with her magic and opening it. True to Luna’s word, just by glancing over it she saw that it was impressive. While he was young, this stallion was as skilled in combat as an old war vet while still being level headed. Several of his former commanding officers had written him warm recommendations. He also had lead several teams on various missions. One thing that stuck out was a recounting of what had happened during the Changeling Invasion not too long ago. According to the file, he and his squad had been positioned on the outer edge of Canterlot which was, admittedly, the poorer section along with a group of Solar Guard. When the attack began, both he and a member of the Solar Guard, Hot Pants, had coordinated together in order to evacuate as many of the civilians as possible while doing their best to take down as many Changelings as possible. As they were planning how to make it to the castle, Shining Armor and Cadence’s love wave drove back the Changelings.

‘It’s sad that I find member of the Night and Solar Guard working together impressive,’ thought Celestia sadly. She had heard of a number of reports that day, most of them talking about how the Solar Guard put up a pitiful fight against the invading army while the Night Guard snoozed through it. Those that didn’t had hints of one Guard trying to upstage the other in order to gain some small measure of glory.

“Well Luna, his file does look impressive,” admitted Celestia. “I still feel that a unicorn might be best for this position. One that can protect Canterlot with powerful shield spells and other such magic like Shining Armor could.” Luna opened her mouth to say something, but Celestia continued. “Yet, as we have seen, a smart enemy will find ways around such spells. I will admit that I feel rather conflicted on this.”

“Well Celestia, you don’t have to make all the decisions by yourself anymore,” said Luna calmly. “Not only do you have me, but also Cadence and now Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps you could even consult Shining Armor on this matter.”

“Hmm,” mused Celestia as she rubbed her chin with her hoof. “You do bring up a valid point.” She then looked at her sister while setting down her hoof. “Would you mind listening to my reasons for picking Stareye? Perhaps then you can understand why I am considering him or point out something that you feel might make him less suited for the position.”

Luna beamed. “Of course,” she said happily.

“Well,” began Celestia. “First off I know his father very well. In fact, we-” Just then there was a flash of green flames that appeared between the two sisters followed by a scroll falling on the table. Knowing only one who could have sent her a message in this fashion, Celestia wasted no time in picking up the scroll and read the short, quickly written message.

“Sister,” said Celestia after she had finished reading, standing up with a worried look on her face. “We need to head to Ponyville! Something has happened to Twilight and her friends!”

-x-End Flashback-x-

“It was nothing that couldn’t be rescheduled Spike,” said Celestia. “And you did the right thing by contacting the two of us as quickly as you did.”

“So, ah, what happened exactly?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“It appears Princess Twilight made a small error in her spell work,” replied Luna as she gestured to the symbols on the ground with one of her wings.

“According to Spike, the spell Twilight was working on was Starswirl’s ‘what if’ spell,” said Celestia. “I remember him working on it when I was very young. Starswirl knew there were an uncountable number of worlds out there, some very similar to our own while others were completely different. After many years of study and guess work, he concluded that all of these worlds were the result of a different choice that could have been made. For example, he found where he had used his magical knowledge for self gain rather than for the greater good. In that world, Equestria was in shambles while he had been stabbed in the back by a mare who wanted his wealth. Then he found worlds where ponies were not the dominate species or we looked very different than what we normally do.

“Traveling to these worlds was tricky, however. Some worlds required certain conditions to travel to and would only be available for a short amount of time. Then there was the fact that he was entering worlds at random, not knowing what he would find and having to do research in that world to see what had caused it to become the way it was. He craved a way to witness particular worlds that he desired to see whenever it suited his fancy, yet knew that it would be highly unlikely that he could find these worlds with his limited life span without a great deal of luck. So, if he couldn’t find the desired world he would, instead, make them.” At this point, Celestia took hold of the cracked crystal and held it up in front of the smaller mares. “The spell he had left in the journey works by having this crystal collect as much information as it could before creating a micro universe within it. That universe would then move forwards along the set parameters that the creator wished. He then began to work on a method that would allow the creator as well as others to project their astral bodies into the micro universe to observe it safely. I fear that Twilight made a miscalculation that, instead of doing this, sucked your physical bodies inside before merging them with your counterparts.”

The mares stared at her blankly, clearly not understanding what she was saying. Even Pinkie Pie who normally understood this kind of stuff for some reason looked just as confused as the rest of them.

“I got this,” said Spike as he stepped forwards while clearing his throat. “Basically, you all got sucked into a tiny world Twilight created and merged with yourselves.”

“Oooh,” said all of the mane six who were awake now in unison.

“Spike, it is simply amazing that you understood all that so well,” exclaimed Rarity.

“Not really,” said Spike as she tried to play it cool. “After living with Twilight for so long you tend to pick up a few things.”

“Guess that explains why mah head feels cluttered,” said Applejack. “Feels like ah’m flipping through two family photo albums. Most of it feels mighty similar, but there are a few differences as well.”

“Same here,” said Rainbow, her eyes closed as if she suddenly had a nasty headache. “I know I never had to help Color Scheme deliver her work, but I have these memories. It’s like I lived through them myself.”

“Um, I hate to bother everypony,” said Fluttershy, who was now standing next to Twilight’s unconscious body. “But, ah, why hasn’t Twilight woken up yet?”

“It is a mystery to me,” admitted Celestia as she approached her former student. “When I and my sister realized what had happened, we feared forcefully pulling you girls out might cause some damage. In fact, had Applejack not awoken as quickly as she did I would have insisted on bringing you all to the castle hospital wing. I am at a loss as to why Twilight is having trouble waking up.”

Luna let out a ‘hmm’ as she tapped her hoof against her chin. “Applejack, you said that your memories of both worlds are similar with only a few differences here and there?”

“Ah, yes ma’am,” said Applejack with a nod, her headache beginning to dull. “At least up until the Summer Sun Celebration. That’s when things really went off the deep end of the pond.”

“Interesting,” said Luna as she looked at Twilight. “Tell me, was Twilight’s life in that world similar to the one she has lived in this world?”

“Nope,” said Pinkie Pie as she began bouncing up and down. “In that world she lived on the moon and was Princess Luna’s student instead. The two of them seemed really close, almost like mother and daughter. Her real parents were dead, Shining Armor was super duper protective of her, had a lot of friends like Lightning Dust and Vinyl Scratch ever since she was a filly, she was going to get married, adopted Scootaloo, shoot Spike because the Lunar Republic had some mean rule about no dragons, she was related to this earth pony who wanted to drop a big rock on Equestria, and had a super important job as an Assistant Director!”

Celestia stopped there, her mouth hanging open as she stared at the bright pink peppy pony as she tried to process this information. Twilight had friends when she was a filly? Was going to be getting married? Shot Spike? She could see Shining Armor being a bit overprotective, but that was it. What the hay happened in that crystal?

“Sister,” said Celestia, “what do you make of all of this?” As she turned to look at Luna, Celestia saw that her sister had a far off expression on her face.

“I…I had my own country?” whispered Luna, a hint of happiness in her eyes.

“Luna!” Celestia almost shouted, getting her sister into the present.

“W-What?” stammered Luna.

“What do you make of this?” asked Celestia as she gestured from the five standing mares to Twilight.

“Oh, right,” said Luna, looking slightly red in the face before she composed herself. “I will admit that we have never seen anything like this before and Starswirl didn’t record much about this spell. But if I had to make a shot in the dark, I believe Twilight is in her current condition because her mind now carries with it two very different sets of memories that are now clashing with each other. Hopefully, in time, the memories she has of this world will triumph. But until then, she may experience some confusion along with some other side effects.”

Spike moved in front of Celestia now and looked up to her with big, watery eyes. “But, she’s going to be ok, right?” he begged.

“We will do all we can Spike,” said Celestia evenly as she wiped away a tear from the young dragon’s face with her wing.

“Well how about we just blast those memories out of her head then?” suggested Rainbow as she pushed the air in front of her. “With those memories gone, she’ll wake right up.”

“Ah, but then won’t she think her spell failed and she might try again?” said Fluttershy. “Or won’t she be curious to see everything we saw? You know how curious she can get at times. She might want to go back in.”

Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, but it was Celestia who spoke first. “Even under the best circumstances, erasing memories is tricky,” she said, gaining everypony’s attention. “The mind is not like a book or a scroll, with everything neatly situated. It is more like an ocean, with some memories and thoughts lurking in its dark depths until they are ready to surface. If we were to do this right now and we missed some of those memories, there is the risk that she will have a full blown mental breakdown or become paranoid while she wonders what else we have altered. I believe that we should just be there for her as she works through what has happened. In time, her own memories will become dominant to that of her other self.”

Applejack opened her mouth, ready to tell the princess that if she was expecting Twilight to forget everything that happened then she had another thing coming. Well, she’d phrase it nicer of course. After everything that had happened, there was no way any of them would forget this experience. But, just as Applejack opened her mouth to speak, Twilight began to moan loudly. As everypony turned to look at the young alicorn, they saw her beginning to fidget on the ground.

“Looks like she is coming to,” said Princess Luna as she approached Twilight, standing next to her sister just in time to witness Twilight’s eyes opening.

For Twilight Sparkle, the world was a savage array of blurs as she opened her eyes. Her head was pounding unlike anything she had ever experienced in her life. She had been turned to stone, had her horn stolen by a crazy chaos spirit, almost buried alive in a cave in, and stabbed by her uncle. But this pain was so unbearable that she would have done them all over again if it meant getting some relief. At least when she was stabbed the pain was…wait, she had been stabbed?

“Twilight Sparkle, it is good to see that you are awake,” came the voice of her teacher, Princess Luna. “Are you well? Is there anything you need?”

“Luna, enough,” said Princess Celestia, the pony who had been her mentor for years. “There is no need to rush this. Let her get her bearings first.”

Twilight looked at the two princesses, her mind giving her completely different memories and emotions of the two. The taller of the two, Princess Celestia was the pony who allowed bat ponies to suffer for a thousand year and invaded her sister’s dream in order to manipulate her. She was the kind mentor who had taken Twilight under her wing, making Twilight her personal pupil until Twilight became an alicorn. Princess Luna was the mare who, in her jealousy and loneliness, had gone insane until finally she took on the name Nightmare Moon, the first threat she and her friends had faced together. She was also the ruler of the Lunar Republic, an advanced society of ponies that included Twilight who lived on the moon. She was the mare who was like a mother to her after her parents death and-

Shock filled Twilight’s heart, causing her to hyperventilate. Her parents were dead? How could that be? She had the memory of the cave in, her brother telling her that they died to give them more time back when she was just a little filly. Yet she could also remember visiting them back in Canterlot just after her coronation! Both memories felt so real!

“Twilight, you need to try and calm down,” said Princess Celestia in a worried tone along with the sound of crystal hitting the ground.

Twilight, however, was not paying attention to her. Instead she was crawling backwards on her back as she looked frantically around the room, searching her surroundings as if looking for some source of comfort. All she found were more conflicting thoughts. Part of her said that this was her home, a safe place where she and her friends would gather. It was the place where she had her first slumber party with Rarity and Applejack. It was the place her princess- No, no, NO! She didn’t live here nor had she ever. She only visited this place to gather information on how the ponies of Equestria viewed Princess Luna and the Republic. She lived in Dome One and her first sleepover was with Lightning Dust and Derpy!

“Twilight please,” came Spike’s voice as he raced over to her. Twilight looked over at him and saw how scared he was. She knew Spike, but the memories began to battle for dominance in her head once again. She shut her eyes tightly as the image of her shooting her number one assistant in the chest appeared in her head. After all, there were no dragons allowed in Equestria so what she did was…

“AHHH!” screamed Twilight, causing all the other ponies to back up. Her head hurt so much as she tried to process everything. Tears began to roll down her face while she clutched the sides of her head with her hooves. Perhaps her magic was lighting up as well, but Twilight couldn’t be sure. All she knew was that something about her memories wasn’t right. Did she have an assistant? Of course: Spike. He had been her assistant since he was very little. No, that was wrong. She hadn’t met him until recently. When Equestria sent a delegation.

“Twilight, please,” begged Celestia as Twilight screamed loudly again.

“We might have to put her to sleep,” said Luna as her horn began to glow. “At least until we can get her someplace where she can receive some help. Perhaps see that therapist you have in your employ, Dr. Jackal, will be better able to help. For her own good.”

Celestia bit her lower lip. She had no desire to have Twilight moved and taken to someplace she didn’t know. Nor did she want anypony to see the newest princess in this state. Then there was the fact that Dr. Jackal was a criminal psychiatrist, thus Celestia did not feel he was best suited for this situation. However, as she looked down at Twilight who now had veins appearing around her skull; the princess of the day knew she had to do something.

‘Perhaps we could simply put her to sleep for now,’ thought Celestia. ‘Twilight’s friends seem to be doing better by the minute so there is a good chance that Twilight might simply need more time to adjust. Or Luna could enter her dreams and help her untangle her memories, help her seem what has happened here and push aside all that happened in that other world.’

Just as Celestia was about to open her mouth and give Luna permission to put Twilight to sleep the door to the library opened. Everypony turned their head to look and see who it was. It was a bat stallion with the deepest black coat they had ever seen. His helmet was off so that they all had no trouble seeing his messy purple mane nor his golden eyes. At the sight of him, the members of the mane six who were staying felt their eyes widen in sock.

“Princess!” yelled Shadow Blade, gaining the attention of Twilight. “I’ve been hearing screaming! Is everything ok?”

Twilight’s mind registered the voice, her eye perking at the sound of it as her screaming stopped. For the first time since she had woken up, there was no contradiction within her mind with who that voice belonged to. There was only one set of memories that flowed through her head like a gentle brook. As she began to focus on it, while getting up to look at the stallion, Twilight could feel the pain in her head lessen. As she kept her gaze on Shadow and her memories of him flowing undisturbed, it felt like her sanity was returning. He was safe and here with her. She knew that, together, they would be alright.

Twilight’s horn lit, surprising everypony in the room, before she suddenly teleported in front of Shadow Blade. The stallion took a step back, only able to say the word “Princess,” before his lips were captured by Twilight’s own. Both Celestia and Luna gaped in shock, their eyes wider than they had ever been in their entire lives and their jaws nearly hit the floor. The rest of the mane six began to look uncomfortable as they watched Twilight deepen the kiss, wrapping her forelegs around the stallion’s neck so as to bring him closer. As for Shadow, he was just as wide eyed as the princesses (at least the ones not kissing him) and his body was rigid.

Finally, Twilight pulled away with a blissfully happy expression on her face. “Shadow, I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. “I think whatever that crack in the sky we saw did something…to…my…” Twilight’s voice began to trail off as her heart rate began to pick up once more. Shadow’s rigid posture was off putting as well as his expression of shock, as if he had never experienced a kiss from her before. Twilight began to wonder in something had happened to him when she noticed something: his scar was missing!

Twilight began to back away from the frozen guard as horror became clear on her face. Shadow, the Shadow she knew and loved, would never get rid of that scar. It was a reminder of the day his father had given his life to save him. There was no way in the void he would ever give have it removed! Wait, what was the void again? She-

Twilight’s rear hoof then hit something as she was backing up. She turned her head and saw the purple crystal lying there on the floor. Her eyes went wide as she stared at it. Then…

“No!” she yelled. “NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO!” Before anypony could move, Twilight’s horn lit up brightly before she vanished from sight.

“Twilight!” called out Celestia as she raced out the door, her own horn lighting up so that she could trace Twilight’s magical trail. She was not about to let her student run around in this confused state. Once she was outside, Celestia opened her wings and flew off into the sky while ignoring the questioning looks of the local ponies around her.

Meanwhile, back in the tree library, Spike began to run towards the door as well along with the rest of Twilight’s friends. No words needed to be said on what their plan was. They all knew that Twilight needed help and so there was no question that that’s what they were going to do: find her and help her.

Luna, however, had other plans as she teleported in front of the doorway. “Stop!” she bellowed loudly as she stomped her hoof. The mares and Spike skidded to a holt but did not look like they were going to stay that way for long.

“Move out of the way!” yelled Rainbow Dash.

“We need ta help find Twi,” said Applejack.

“Please move,” begged Fluttershy.

Luna held up a hoof to silence them. “I know you are all worried about your friend,” she began. “But given the situation, all of you running out to find her might make the situation worse. So, I must insist that you all remain here a bit longer.”

“No way!” yelled Spike as he tried to run past Princess Luna. He did not get far as Luna used her magic to levitate Spike off the ground and move him back so he was with the mares once more.

“Spike,” said Luna as she looked at the dragon. “Twilight is in a state of confusion. While I do not know what has happened to her in that other world, I believe that my sister is best suited to handle this. She is more familiar with Twilight’s magical signature so she will be able to find her easily. When she finds Twilight, hopefully there will be nopony else around or Celestia will be able to convince Twilight to speak with her privately. That way, it will be a one on one conversation with fewer things to conflict with Twilight’s mind. My sister should then be able to help Twilight separate her memories or, at the very least, keep her calm.”

“But what if she can’t?” asked Pinkie.

At this, Luna looked away. She knew that Celestia would never willingly hurt Twilight. She cared about her former pupil far too much to do something like that. But at the same time, she would never allow Twilight to endanger herself or those around.

“If worse comes to worst, Celestia will do what needs to be done,” said Luna eventually, a bit of hurt escaping her voice. “Hopefully, she will only put our friend to sleep. And if that does happen, I am sure that you would all rather be here for her the moment she is brought back to her home. Is that not correct?”

Twilight’s friends looked at each other for a little bit before Applejack spoke up. “Ah guess what ya say makes sense. But that don’t we mean like it none.”

“Nor do I,” said Luna with a sad nod.

“Princess,” said Shadow Blade as he approached Luna. “Does your majesty wish me to assist Princess Celestia in finding Princess Twilight?”

Luna quickly eyed the sole stallion in the room. While she was less than pleased with how he had frozen in shock a few minutes ago, she was willing to let that slide for now. After all, nopony in the room was expecting Twilight Sparkle of all ponies to Prench kiss him. It was at least commendable on his part that he had snapped out of it and wanted to search for the wayward princess. However…

“Given how she reacted, I do not believe that to be wise,” said Luna before eyeing the crystal on the ground. “Perhaps we should all be caught up to speed on what happened in that other world.”

-x-

Celestia flew through the sky above Ponyville as she searched for her student. She could sense Twilight using multiple teleports that seemed random. One moment she is at the school which (thankfully) was closed for the day then she was at Sweet Apple Acres followed by Rarity’s shop. There was a small pause in between each of these jumps that led Celestia to believe that Twilight was looking around quickly before moving to her next destination.

And then Celestia felt Twilight teleport high above Ponyville and then…nothing. She was remaining as stationary as she could on a cloud, allowing Celestia a moment to let out a sigh of relief. She hoped that this meant that Twilight was calming down and would allow the two of them to speak. If she wasn’t, if she was still panicking or in a state of confusion, then Celestia knew that she would have to do something in order to help her former pupil.

With a great flap of her wings, Celestia rose up higher into the sky. She passed all of the other pegasi flying by without giving them a second glance. At this time, all that mattered was Twilight. Soon, Celestia found herself way above the clouds right behind the purple alicorn who was looking down at the small town below her with her shoulders slumped. For a moment, Celestia just hovered there. She didn’t want to say anything or move towards Twilight for fear that she might startle her. But Twilight never turned to look at her nor did she give any indication that she knew Celestia was there. She just sat there.

'Well, guess I’ll have to take a chance,’ thought Celestia as she glided towards the cloud. She kept her eyes on Twilight as she gently landed on the cloud and moved to sit besides her. If Twilight was aware of her being there, she showed no signs of it. Now that she was besides her, Celestia could see the thin strands of wetness moving down Twilight’s face.

“Twilight,” said Celestia in her warmest, most comforting voice. “I know you have been through a lot-”

“It’s true, I really am home,” said Twilight, wincing slightly as she spoke as if doing so caused her pain. “I’m…no longer Assistant Director Twilight Sparkle of the Lunar Republic. I had to look around to make sure of it, but there’s no denying what world I’m in now and who I am. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.”

“I’m…glad you are coming to terms with that,” said Celestia, not knowing how to really approach something like this. “I take it that you are getting better at distinguishing between the memories?”

Twilight shook her head. “They’re still all jumbled around,” she said. “I am getting mixed feelings whenever I look around, mixed memories. They blur together sometimes. Like when I look down at Ponyville.” Twilight lifted a hoof and pointed it at the small town below. “I can still remember this place as my home, where I met my best friends. I can remember helping Applejack with the cider challenge, Trixie challenging me to a magical duel, and Pinkie Pie cloning herself. But I also have memories of seeing Applejack and her brother treat Shadow Blade with suspicion. A place where I found out that Princess Luna’s holiday had been corrupted. I remember standing before the two of you and saying that I didn’t believe merging our two countries would ever work.”

Twilight then turned to look at her former mentor, tears flowing with more force now. “When I look at you now it’s the same,” continued Twilight. “I know that the Celestia I see here now is a kind ruler who has governed Equestria for a thousand years with peace and love. We have so much to be thankful for.” Twilight then shut her eyes tightly. “But I keep my feelings of the other you from mingling in. I see you as her. The princess who sat back and did nothing but talk while the bat ponies suffered. The princess who invaded Princess Luna’s dreams to manipulate her into doing what she wanted. I…I can’t get that image out of my head of Princess Luna crying in a corner because of what you did to her.”

Twilight flinched as she felt something wrap around her, covering her body with warmth. She dared to open her eyes a crack and saw that it was Celestia, wrapping her body up with one of her wings as she pulled the smaller princess closer to her.

“Twilight, you have no idea how much I wish I could help you forget all of this,” said Celestia softly. “All the pain you have suffered. From seeing both Equestria and myself from being…how we used to be. But…it’s not possible.”

“H-How it used to be?” echoed Twilight as she suddenly pulled away, her eyes wide in horror. “You mean…No, it can’t be true. There’s no way you could have ever been like that!”

Celestia stared at Twilight for a moment before sadly nodding her head. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but it is true,” said the sun princess.

Now it was Twilight’s turn to stare silently at the other figure sitting on the cloud. Her mouth hung open as her already confused mind tried to process this. It didn’t seem possible. Princess Celestia had never acted like that other Celestia she knew. She had always be a figure of love and justice.

“I…I just don’t see how it is possible,” said Twilight finally in disbelief.

“Time and events change a pony, dearest Twilight,” said Celestia as she turned to look at the peaceful view below her. “Back when I first took the throne after my parents left, I believed all I needed was words. Back then, word traveled so much slower than it does now, sometimes word of certain events or atrocities being lost entirely. And when I did hear something horrible had happened, I firmly believed that a kind voice could steer my little ponies back onto the right path with nothing else to back it up. It wasn’t until my two greatest failures occurred that I woke up and saw the reality before me.”

“Was one of those Nightmare Moon?” asked Twilight as she moved besides Celestia.

“I cannot take full credit for Nightmare Moon,” said Celestia as she looked over at Twilight. “Many factors came into play to create her. Luna…her ego was starved for the love and affection that I received every day. And, like any starved creature, she became desperate to feed the growing hunger inside of her until she was willing to do whatever it took to end her starvation. Even if it meant killing her entire family and plunging the world into an endless night.” Celestia’s head lowered a bit more. “I spoke to my subjects many times trying to get them to view her night sky or appear at her court. But, that was all I ever did. I never announced I was going to see a meteor shower that Luna had planned. I was never seen out at night doing anything, just staying in my room while I awaited my slumber.

“Then came that fateful night. Luna was feeling more alone than ever. I could tell something was going wrong with her, that she needed help. Sh-She made me promise that I would be there for her when she woke up for her shift. She needed me to be there because it was an important night. I could see how much this meant to Luna, how much she needed this, so I agreed. But I had forgotten I had prior arrangements, one of which took me far away from the castle. I lost track of time and was delayed from returning. When I finally returned home…”

Celestia shuttered as a horrible memory flashed in her head. She could see Nightmare Moon standing in the audience hall of the Castle of the Two Royal Sisters, her hoof pressing down against their father’s throat as she laughed gleefully at his pain. Next to Celestia, frozen in fear, was Oceana as her remaining daughter held up the Elements of Harmony.

Eventually, Celestia gulped before turning to look at Twilight who had moved back to her mentor’s side. “I’m sorry Twilight, but it is still difficult to talk about that night. Even after a thousand years the memory is painful. Perhaps another day you will hear the full story.”

“I understand,” replied Twilight as she thought to her stabbing in that other world. She knew how difficult it could be on a pony to experience somepony they loved and trusted attacking them. “You…You said there were two things. Do you mind if I ask what the second was?”

For a time, Celestia just sat there while her wings slumped. She closed her eyes tightly; soon tears began to leak out of the corners of her eyes. It was as if she were reliving some horrible moment. Then, when she opened them, Celestia looked at Twilight and nodded.

“The other event that changed me was the deaths of Night Owl and Sonic Echo,” said Celestia before she let out a loud sniff.

“I remember them,” said Twilight as memories of both her lives picked up on the names. “I remember reading somewhere that they were the original Night Guard. There’s even a statue dedicated to them in the Canterlot Garden! In the other world, they went with Princess Luna to Hoofshire when her supports were under attack. It was that incident as well as you saying you would give a little speech on Heart’s Warming that caused Princess Luna to leave.”

Celestia’s ears perked at the words ‘her supporters’. That, along with what Pinkie Pie had told them gave Celestia a good idea on what change Twilight had made to create her own world. True, it was just a theory until she asked Twilight but it felt like the odds were in her favor that her former student had created a world where Luna had never become Nightmare Moon. That she received the same level of admiration and love that Celestia had. Yet from the sounds of it, they still had a falling out.

“I see you are getting better at separating the memories you now carry,” said Celestia with a small smile. “And…I can see my old self doing something like that.”

“So, how did their deaths affect you like that?” asked Twilight.

Celestia let out a sigh. “I suppose, if you are to best understand, you will need to know a bit more about them,” said the sun princess, her eyes falling on the Cake family as she did. The adults were pushing the baby carriage down the street below them while the twins slumbered peacefully. Celestia could not help but let out another sigh.

“You said in that other world, bat ponies were suffering and I only used my words to try to stop it,” continued Celestia. “That was true back then in this world as well. While my mother, Oceana, enacted laws that stopped the deaths of newborn bat pony foals the practice picked up right under our noses right after she left. Neither me nor Luna had any idea it was going on since there were no hospitals back then nor were there birth records. Luna, one night as she was patrolling the lands, spotted the two bat ponies who she said were caught on high tree branches. When she brought them back to the castle I was in denial. I couldn’t accept that my, er, our, subjects at the time were still doing this. So, I shut my eyes to the truth and told Luna that she should take the foals to the local orphanage in the morning.

“My sister did as I asked only to bring them right back. She said she got an uneasy feeling when the matron looked at the foals, one that she was unable to shake off. After that day, Luna cared for the two of them as if they were her own colts. They were like two small shadows that would follow her everywhere. Luna was strict with them, but always showed that she loved them and they showed her their love in return. Looking back on those days and what would come later, I believe that without them Luna would have turned into Nightmare Moon much sooner. While I enjoyed a feast of love and affection, they provided her with slices of bread. Not enough to halt her jealousy, but enough to keep it at bay for a time.

“During those days Luna also went looking for more bat ponies when she could so that she could find evidence of more abuse. However, this proved difficult since she had to do it herself during a time when only she, Owl, and Echo were awake. The few times she did find something she was too late to be of any real help. I can recall a few times when she rose me from my slumber telling me she found a dead bat pony.”

“And I take it you still didn’t do anything?” asked Twilight, already knowing the answer.

Celestia nodded grimly as she bit into her lower lip. “To my eternal shame. I wanted to believe anything else could have been the cause of their deaths, even when Luna dragged me to see their bodies. It could have been a timber wolf attack. It could have been disease. It could have been from any number of causes. I did make plans to try and figure out the cause, picking out ponies who I believed who put their all into the task, and setting aside funds to do all of this. But, I took too long.

“Eventually, the two colts became stallions. Rather than going out into the world and forging their own path like I suggested, they instead vowed to protect Luna as her first ever Guard. They began to join her on her flights through the lands, keeping monsters from entering towns and looking for more bat ponies to save. And, for a time, looked like they were making progress. Luna told me once before things went south that she had found hints that there were hidden colonies of bat ponies out there. She had decided to approach them slowly, to earn their trust. I do not know if she ever did approach them or not for my sister did not share with me any of the specifics. I believe it was in an effort to keep their trust as well as to protect them from ponies who would wish them harm. Luna did promise when that when they were ready to come out in the open, I would be by her side. But that day never came as my Captain of the Guard, Holy Justice, approached me on an issue involving the Night Guard.”

Once Celestia said the name ‘Holy Justice’, her features transformed in front of Twilight’s eyes. Her mane seemed to become more jagged. Her teeth began to grit and there was a fire in her eyes the likes that Twilight had never seen before. And her face! The one she was seeing right now made the look Celestia had given the Changeling Queen look more like a puppy trying to look threatening.

“Holy Justice,” spat Celestia angrily, “said that he wanted to better incorporate Luna’s Guard into the rest of the Guard. Said that they would never be accepted if they only hung around my sister all the time. Said he would send them on missions with other members of the Guard. I thought that was a wonderful idea so much so that I agreed to it on the spot, without asking Luna what she thought. What I didn’t know was that Holy Justice was sending them alone, under geared, on the most dangerous missions he had on his desk in order to get rid of them. They would be gone for weeks at a time, sometimes months, without a word how they were doing. And their stay at home was always short, Holy Justice made sure that they were on another mission a few days later. They never complained about this, most likely wanting to prove to everypony that Luna was not mistaken by allowing them to be part of the Guard. But, it was while they were away that Luna began to withdraw more and more each time I saw her. She even began to think that they had abandoned or turned against her in order to fit in! It was during one of their longest missions that she finally broke down and became Nightmare Moon.”

“I see,” said Twilight as she looked down.

“After that night, I stayed in my room for several days,” continued Celestia, the anger in her voice being replaced with sadness once more. “I ignored all of my duties as I laid in my bed, racking my mind trying to figure out how this could have happened and if there could have been anything to avoid it. I only left my room when heard a commotion as well as the voices of Night Owl and Sonic Echo. Realizing that they must have just returned from their mission, I teleported outside to the courtyard so that I could tell them what happened. But when I a-arrived…” Celestia’s voice trailed off as tears began to run down her face. “N-Night Owl was being stabbed by my Solar Guard. Their f-faces, they looked l-like monsters, not ponies as they gleefully sunk their spears into Owl’s body. Echo he…he was flying through the air trying to escape the pegasi. When he saw me he made a mad dash in my direction. I ordered everypony there to stop, but they ignored me. Several more times I commanded them to stop until I saw a beam pierce through Echo’s body, shot in the back by Holy Justice. Echo fell to the ground in front of me while death began to claim him. His last words were asking where his mother was.”

Twilight could not believe what she was hearing. In all of the books she had read in her lifetime, this one at least, she had never even found so much as a footnote that would indicate something like this could have happened. In fact, if it wasn’t for the ‘what if’ spell such actions would have been inconceivable to the young alicorn. But here she was, listening to Princess Celestia as she spoke of events from so long ago.

Celestia’s anger returned, her wings rising slightly as if she were a hawk ready to dive down of some unsuspecting prey. “Holy Justice approached me, claiming that he suspected that they were agents of Nightmare Moon. That he had wanted to detain them but they resisted. I didn’t buy that for a second for I had seen the looks in their eyes as they murdered their comrades. I personally sent them to the deepest, darkest pits of Tartarus and left them to rot there.”

The Princess of the Day then looked down at a shocked and horrified Twilight, feeling her anger diminishing as she did. “After that, it was like I was looking at the world for the first time. I looked at Equestria, realizing that my patience to plan things out had resulted in a sort of stagnation. Advances in the area of technology were almost zero, many unicorns still believed themselves to be superior, and so on. I resolved to change both myself and Equestria to make them better. It took time for old habits truly die hard, but I was eventually able to find what I felt was the right mix of assertiveness and patience. As for the bat ponies, it took forty five years for me to gain their trust and bring back the Night Guard.”

Twilight said nothing at first. The pain in her head had lessened a great deal, but it was still having a hard time processing this new information. She had never had a clue that any of this had happened or had taken into consideration that having to seal her own sister into the moon had resulted in a positive change for Princess Celestia. If she had, she might have rephrased her spell better.

It was then a thought crossed Twilight’s mind. As the thought continued to linger in her head, Twilight began to shift through her memories with all the focus she could muster. It must have been a weird sight, seeing the newest princess sitting on a cloud with her face all scrunched up. But Twilight didn’t care what she looked like at that moment. What mattered was trying to confirm something. And when she came up with nothing, she began to fear the worse.

“Does,” began Twilight, slightly hesitant. “Does Princess Luna know what happened to Night Owl and Sonic Echo?”

Twilight’s suspicions were confirmed as Celestia shook her head. “No Twilight. She knows they died shortly after she vanished, but I have avoided telling her anything else. While she tries to hide it, I know that Luna carries a great amount of guilt over what she became and what she tried to do. I fear that knowing this will only cause her to blame herself over their deaths.”

“I see,” said Twilight, her ears drooping as she said this.

“I think,” said Celestia as she stood up, “that we have kept your friends worrying about you long enough.”

“My friends!” shouted Twilight, her thoughts shifting towards her close friends as she jumped to her hooves. A new, fresh wave of panic washed over her. “Oh, I dragged them into that world! We could have been stuck there forever thinking that was our home! They are going to be so mad at me!”

“I believe that they are more worried about your well being at the moment,” said Celestia gently as she flapped her wings to take off into the air. With a gesture, she motioned Twilight to follow her. Twilight, she couldn’t help but notice, was having a bit of difficulty flying in any sort of straight line and several times Celestia had to assist her in order to prevent the purple alicorn from crashing into the ground below. But soon enough they both had their hooves back on the ground.

“Twilight,” said Celestia as she began to walk to Twilight’s home with Twilight right behind her. “For now I think it best if you take some time to recover. I can tell that you are slowly feeling better, but I want to make sure there are no lasting side effects. Promise me you will try and take it easy before the Princess Summit as well as seeing a doctor if you even notice something is amiss. Then, once the Summit is over, I would love to hear everything that you saw in that other world.”

“I’m,” began Twilight but stopped when Celestia gave her a worried look.

“You are not fine,” she said in a firm voice that said that the matter was closed. When she spoke next, her voice had regained its compassionate tone. “You have been through too much Twilight and it will not do you any good if you do not take care of yourself. That should go for your friends as well.”

As much as she wanted to argue with Princess Celestia, Twilight knew she was right. The pain in her head when she had first woken up was a big enough indicator that something was wrong. Well that and kissing Shadow like that! What would happened if she ran into some other pony she only knew from that other world like Scorpio, Bunsen Burner, or Sunset Shimmer? How would she react? Or what would happen if she got the worlds mixed up again or began suffering major head pains again? That might interfere with her new royal duties…whatever they were.

‘Princess Celestia is right,’ thought Twilight after voicing her agreement. ‘I should try and relax until I head up to the Crystal Empire.’

As the two princesses walked through the streets, the ponies of Ponyville moved out of the way so that their path was unrestricted. They also stopped what they were doing, being it talking to another pony or shopping on this nice day, so that they could bow as the pair passed. Twilight blushed with discomfort at this new sign of respect, hoping that it wouldn’t be like this forever. She didn’t know if she could handle it.

About halfway back to her library, Twilight noticed a familiar orange filly heading in their direction. Scootaloo was buzzing along on her scooter without the wagon that would normally be carrying her fellow Crusaders. Even though she was still some distance between them, Twilight could make out that Scootaloo was wearing both her helmet and goggles for protection. As Scootaloo got closer the young alicorn could better make out that the filly’s equipment looked newish and well cared for which was a stark contrast to the Scootaloo she had met in that other world. Over there, that Scootaloo’s possessions looked second or third hoofed and in desperate need of upkeep.

For a moment, Twilight pondered what this could mean. Was it because Celestia was so much better here that she made sure funding to all of Equestria’s orphanages were being handled properly? Or was it simply because communication and transportation were so much better that the funds simply arrived sooner, thus a smaller need to watch their budget? Regardless, Twilight knew that she couldn’t let Scootaloo stay in an orphanage. Her experiences in the other world had shown her that she could be a positive influence for Scootaloo. She wanted to help her out so much so that at that very moment, Twilight decided while she was recovering she would look into adoption procedures.

In that moment, Scootaloo had spotted the two princesses and had screeched to a halt. As Scootaloo then jumped off her scooter Celestia began to raise her hoof, knowing that the filly was going to bow before them.

“There is no need to bow to us Scootaloo,” said Celestia gently. Scootaloo, who was in the middle of pulling off her helmet, paused to look up at the larger alicorn with her mouth hanging open slightly.

“Y-You know my name?” stammered Scootaloo as she slowly removed her head protection.

Celestia nodded, something that surprised both ponies standing near her. “I do indeed,” she said. “You were one of Princess Cadence’s flower fillies, remember?”

“Oh right,” said Scootaloo as she scratched the back of her head.

“But that is not the only way I know you,” continued Celestia. “My sister spoke of how you overcame your fears during a camping trip with great pride. I also happen to be acquainted with your mother. Nearly all of her letters to me mention you at least several times. It is a shame she refuses to set hoof in Canterlot. I truly do miss seeing her in my Court.”

Scootaloo let out a groan of embarrassment at finding out that her mother was gushing about her again. At times, she liked it like whenever Scootaloo got a good grade after studying really hard or perfecting a trick on her scooter that had been extra difficult for her. But other times it felt like her mom just like to brag endlessly about her. It just always felt weird, hearing her mom talk about how proud she was over the tiniest things. It was the reason she tried not to invite her friends over, she was afraid her mom would start talking about her like she did to did to other adults.

At the same time, Twilight stood there with her eyes wide open in surprise at the conversation going on in front of her. She had assumed that Scootaloo was an orphan in this world as well. Twilight then looked over at Celestia who was giving her a look that said ‘let it go’. Could Celestia had known what Twilight had thought of doing and brought up Scootaloo’s mother to stop her before she became too invested?

“Well I’d better get going,” said Scootaloo as she lifted her helmet up. She stopped, however, when Twilight lifted up a hoof.

“Scootaloo, would you mind if I checked something first?” asked Twilight, aware that Celestia was giving her an odd look.

“Ah, sure?” said Scootaloo with a big of uncertainty in her voice. With that, Twilight reached over to touch Scootaloo on the head. And, like she had in that other world, she found the same partially formed horn on Scootaloo’s head.

-x-

A short time later, Twilight found herself standing in front of her home with Princess Celestia standing next to her. Twilight had no idea how much time had passed since they had left Scootaloo or even how they got here. For all she knew the Princess had teleported them both here with Twilight blinking and missing it.

The truth of the matter was that Twilight’s mind had been elsewhere throughout the whole trip. She still had magically induced crossbreed syndrome in this world as well. She still couldn’t fly or use magic. But she had a home and a family now. Had she been adopted or were they her real parents? Perhaps, for now, it didn’t matter. What mattered was trying to help Scootaloo like she had before.

When Twilight did register where she was she also noted that it wasn’t just the two of them any longer. Shadow Blade was standing next to the door, most likely guarding it, and looking at Twilight with darkened cheeks. The newest princess of Equestria felt her own cheeks beginning to burn as she remembered what she had done in her confusion. At the same time, both ponies looked away in utter embarrassment.

“I think I’ll head inside and let you two talk over what happened,” said Celestia quickly as she moved towards the door. She opened the door and saw Luna sitting there with a big grin on her face. Rather than ask what had her in such a good mood, Celestia decided to close the door first as well as placing several spells around the tree house that would ensure that Twilight’s conversation would remain private for the time being.

When the door closed, Shadow gave Twilight a nervous smile which she returned. “So,” he began. “I, um, heard a bit about what happened to you.”

“O-Oh,” stammered Twilight as she felt her heart pumping.

Shadow scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, your friends have been telling the Princess what happened,” he continued. “I left after a bit, but I did catch some stuff about…us.”

Twilight could now feel her heart pounding a mile a minute as she wondered where this was going. A wishful part of her brain wanted him to declare his love for her at this moment, kissing her with all the passion he could muster. But, given what had gone on with Scootaloo, it felt very unlikely. She was waiting for him to reject her, saying that had already had a special somepony and begging her never to breathe a word of this. Or something like that. But Shadow didn’t say a word. He just seemed to stand there as if he were having an internal debate.

So Twilight decided to make the first move.

“Shadow, I-” she began.

“Princess, can I say something,” interrupted Shadow, his ears flat against his head as he did.

“S-Sure,” replied Twilight. “And, you don’t have to call me Princess. Twilight’s fine.”

“Right,” said Shadow before taking a breath which seemed to calm him down. “Twilight, I’ve been standing here for a bit trying to figure out how I should approach you after everything I heard and…that kiss. Well, I figured I should start by saying that I understand why you did it. You were confused. But…I’m not the same Shadow Blade you knew. And, well, I don’t know you.”

At that, Twilight felt her own ears droop and a sad, force smile appear on her face. “I sort of knew you would say something like that,” she admitted.

“But,” began Shadow as he closed his eyes tightly. He then took a deep breath before shouting, “I wouldn’t mind changing that!” Twilight’s ears raised as a blush appeared on her face. Ponies who were passing by paused in mid step to look at what was going on, yet this went unnoticed by the pair.

“Y-You mean,” stammered Twilight.

“I mean I wouldn’t mind getting to know you,” said Shadow quickly as he peeked out of one eye. “Perhaps the next time you’re in Canterlot and I’m free we could get something to eat or something. Maybe see if something could work out?”

“Don’t you have a special somepony?” asked Twilight without thinking as she took a step forwards. As Shadow shook his head, a smile appeared on Twilight’s face. “Then I’d love to.”

-x-Epilogue-x-

It was the sound of a frustrated cry that awoke Spike from his slumber. Groaning, he looked over at the clock on the nightstand next to Twilight’s bed to find it was only slightly past six in the morning. His tired eyes then moved to Twilight’s bed to find that it was empty. With an unsurprised look on his face he got out of his tiny basket bed and headed downstairs where he knew he would find Twilight.

As soon as he could see the first level of the library he found Twilight. Ever since the she had returned from the crystal, Twilight had stayed cooped up in the library. But it wasn’t because she was trying to relax with plenty of good books or anything else like that. No, instead Twilight had been busy documenting everything she could from her alternate life. From science to magic, Twilight Sparkle wanted to bring the wonders she had seen into this world. She wrote on everything from paper, to blackboards, to even napkins. From the moment she awoke in the early hours of the morning till she went to bed in the wee hours of the night, writing had become her obsession.

When she had first begun, Spike had tried to be supportive but watchful. He made sure that she took breaks to eat or simply give her magic a break. The small dragon even made sure to get Twilight’s friends to come over for visits ever once in awhile so that they could see how each other were doing. The very last thing he wanted was for her to burn out during her recovery. Yet, over the last couple of days, he had noticed that Twilight’s behavior had become more frantic. She had begun re-reading previous notes only to growl with frustration. Her pacing had increased. When her magic faded to the point where she could no longer even get a spark she would take the quill with her mouth and write like that. Sometimes she would be so lost in her work that she would ignore Spike even while he shouted at her.

Looking at her now, Spike could see that Twilight was at the end of her rope. She was holding up several documents, frantically reading them while her hooves moved in the same way as a little filly who was trying to hold her bladder. Twilight kept muttering the word ‘no’ over and over again as she did all this before proceeding to look at something on one of the many chalkboards she had. As she moved, Spike could see that she looked like she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

“THIS DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!” screamed a very flustered Twilight as she tossed her papers about, alarming Spike in the process. “HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE? I-”

“TWILIGHT!” yelled Spike. His call got Twilight’s attention, her head spinning around to look at him. At first, she appeared angry at the interruption. But when she saw Spike, her anger vanished instantly as her ears dropped in shame.

“Oh Spike,” she said as she walked over to the stairs. “I’m so sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“I think you might have woken the entire neighborhood Twilight,” Spike replied firmly.

“I, er, well,” stumbled Twilight with her words as she looked around. She then looked down and sighed.

“You know you should be in bed,” continued Spike. “I should be in bed. I’m a baby dragon and I need my sleep. Especially since we’re heading to the Crystal Empire in the morning.”

“I know Spike,” replied Twilight as she turned around and picked up a document with her hoof. As she looked at it a frown appeared on her face.

“So why are you up this early instead of getting your rest like Princess Celestia wanted?” demanded Spike.

“Because none of this makes any sense!” Twilight all but shouted as she tossed the paper back to the floor, surprising Spike.

“B-But how is that possible?” he asked as he finished moving down the stairs. His eyes looked around at everything Twilight had written in wonder. “You wrote all of this. You knew what it meant back then, right?”

“I did and that’s what’s so frustrating,” said Twilight as she gestured to everything in the room. “I understood all of this back then. But now it just reads like gibberish. Nanotechnology, cold fusion, anti gravity technology, anti magic technology…I can’t understand any of the math or the science behind it! Things that I could recite from heart back in that other world I can now feel it all slipping away from me. More and more each day. And the worst part is that I don’t know why!”

“You mean…it’s all going to go away?” asked Spike, slightly worried.

Twilight shook her head. “I can still remember what happened there, in broad strokes,” she said. “I can remember a lot of things I did back there. But many of the details are getting…blurry. I talked to the others and they said the same thing. It’s not just me.” Irritation reappeared back on her face. “But they aren’t forgetting information that could make Equestria better! They aren’t forgetting information that could help Scootaloo fly again!”

Spike took a step back. “You mean there’s no hope?” he asked. He had been told many things of Twilight’s time in that alternate world. One of which was how close Twilight and Scootaloo became. Adopting Scootaloo wasn’t possible, and it wasn’t due for a lack of trying on Twilight’s part. During her breaks from writing, she had been trying to learn as much as she could about the flightless filly. Majesty worked in the mayor’s office while Scooter had his own small chariot and wagon repair shop. While both were very busy they did provide as much as they could for their daughter and showed how much they loved her. Twilight could not bring herself to try and take Scootaloo away from this to fit her own selfish desires. The one thing she could do, however, is use her newly found knowledge to help the filly fly. But now…

“Maybe,” Twilight said in a very tired tone. “There are some things that I haven’t forgotten yet. I can still remember the basics behind curing crossbred syndrome and some of the magic that was used. There have also been studies in this Equestria about crossbreed syndrome as well as a few trial experiments trying to cure it. Perhaps if I put in a request, I will be able to look at their findings so I can see in the information I have retained will be able to help them. But I can’t say if it’ll stay that way or if it will vanish in time like everything else. For all I know, in an hour it will begin to fade away as well.”

At that moment, Twilight wanted to cry out in both frustration as well as sadness. As the tears welled up around her eyes, she thought about all she could do for everypony. Make better artificial wings for pegasi who had lost their own in an accident. Leaps in medical technology. Better entertainment. Better transportation. It could all be theirs if she could only remember! She felt like she was letting everypony down because of this. That she was failing as a princess in some way.

Before she could think about it any further, Spike placed a claw on her side.

“Hey, cheer up,” he said brightly. “I’m sure whatever you can remember you can put it to good use. Just like your plan to help Scootaloo fly again. As long as you know the important stuff and at least have an idea how it works, maybe you can figure out a way around all the tech stuff.”

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin. “I guess so,” she said slowly as her mind went to process this information. Already, new mental doorways were opening for her and she was seeing options she had never considered before. How she could possibly recreate some of the things she had seen there using the skills she had learned in her own life.

“And even if that doesn’t work out,” continued Spike, getting Twilight’s attention again. “You will have everything that you wrote down. Maybe what you wrote down will inspire ponies in the future who might be better able to understand it.”

Twilight smiled as she patted Spike on the head. “I think you’re right Spike,” she said before looking around her at all of the documents. “Once the Princess Summit is over with, I’ll have all of this shipped to Canterlot. It might take awhile, but I’m sure someday somepony out there might be able to understand all of this.”

“There you go,” said Spike before he yawned. “Well, how about we go back to bed. We’re all packed and the train won’t be leaving for several more hours.”

“Sleep does sound like a good idea,” replied Twilight. “You go on ahead. I need to check on one more thing then I’ll be up.” Spike opened his mouth to argue, but Twilight spoke up first. “If I’m not up in five minutes you can send a letter to Princess Celestia saying I’m not following her orders.”

This seemed to appease the young dragon who nodded before heading up the stairs. Before he vanished from sight, however, he turned to look down at Twilight and then held up his wrist. At once, Spike used his other hand to point at his wrist making it clear he was going to be timing her.

Once Spike was upstairs, Twilight moved towards a doorway leading to the basement. She opened it and quickly made her way down the stairway to where her secret project lay waiting. As her hooves touched the basement floor, she trotted towards the back of the room where a long workbench rested against the wall. Only one thing was on this workbench: a purple crystal with a large crack in it, sitting on a pillow. Below the table was a notebook filled with various theories she had on trying to view that other Equestria safely, without putting anypony in harm’s way.

But, before she did that, Twilight would have to fix that crack.

After she had returned to the tree library with Princess Celestia, her mentor had explained that both she and Luna had had to forcibly open up the crystal in order to retrieve them. Nopony knew what kind of effect that would have on the universe Twilight had created. It was possible that everything in there was fine, that the ponies were going about their daily lives none the wiser. But there was also the possibility that the other Twilight and friends had been pulled out of their world. Or that that universe was frozen until the crack could be fixed. It could even be that everything in that crystal had been destroyed!

Twilight knew she had to find out what was going on and, if need be, to fix whatever was broken in there. It wasn’t fair to all the lives inside that they were possibly in danger because of Twilight’s mistake and her mentor's efforts to free her. So several times a day, Twilight had been taking breaks from her writing to try and fix the crack. And, judging by her measurements, the crack was getting smaller by the day. Maybe in a month or so, the crack would be gone and Twilight could begin her experiments to try and view that other world.

Then she would be able to get some answers. Like what was going on with the Lunar Republic now that the moon could better sustain life. How was Princess Luna handling the fallout from Operation: Umbrella? How were the bat ponies of Equestria doing? There were so many questions that Twilight felt that she needed. Perhaps she could see if it would be possible one day to make contact with that world.

The purple princess let out a yawn which told her it was time to go to bed. Gently she kissed the crystal before heading up to bed. And, as soon as Twilight closed the door to the basement, the crystal began to glow faintly.

Author's Note:

Well everybrony, its finally over after all these years. Its been a wild ride and I hope you all enjoyed the story. To everyone who supported me and helped THANK YOU

Anyways, Twilight might be back in her own world, but that doesn't mean that her journey is over. I am planning several one shots involving her and other characters that appeared in The Thousand Year Change done like I did for Color Change. The next one I am planning on doing is LIGHTNING DUST

But now I will be moving onto my other ideas. I plan on starting work on my Sisters story which will be much shorter: no more than five chapters. I hope. After that I will be doing another big story, steampunk this time to try something different as well as using the wonderful advice I have been given in the comments. Hope to hear from you all again.

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Comments

[Madara1442]

So Is it... over?

[ValNitak Choas]

good story

[Shadow Weapon]

This has been one of the best fanfics I've ever read, keep up the good work, can't wait to see what you do next.

[Dusk Star Shine]

Please for the Love of Faust say that some tech from the 1000 year world ends up in Equestria that could help speed up their current level of Tech, that way Twilight could fix Scootaloo then and maybe even adopt her, Scootaloo deserves a loving mother and who better then the Princess of Friendship.

[Dlaf rferg]

8154662 Lunar Scootaloo or Normal Scootaloo?

Because Scoots has a loving family normally.

[Raistlin]

Celestia didn´t explain the reasons for choosing Stareye aka walking waste of air as new Captain of the Royal Guard. Didn´t she actually learn anything?

[Dusk Star Shine]

8154669 Normal Scootaloo has a Family, I didn't know that, I've always thought she was an orphan.

[Grif_Bladefeather]

well i enjoyed the fact that there was actual swift justice for thestrals in this story i can't help but feel that killing swift justice and his coharts right there and staking them could have cut the equality movement down from 45 years to 25

[SvenFoxx]

I called it! Miniature pocket dimension where the Mane 6 were merged or trapped in their alternate selves.

Still, this bit of a cliffhanger ending sucks. Guess I'll have to wait until these one-shots to see how everyone is coping.

[Trent Roogna]

8154670
From the scene in this final chapter I don't think Celestia was involved in the memory. Stareye is just another officer to her.

[EchoWolf31]

There are two big problems with Twilight wanting to bring the NLR tech into her Equestria:

1. How is she sure that the tech would even work? It was an alternate universe created solely to show a "What If" situation and as such there's no guarantee that the calculations, equations, and physics of that world would carry through. It's like going into Portal, taking the Portal gun, and expecting it to work in real life.

2. Suddenly introducing advanced tech. Twilight is completely focus on the good that the tech can do that she falling to take into consideration what the consequences would be. The political, economic, and social upheaval to not just Equestria, but the whole world would be devastating. Tech like that needs to be naturally developed over time, otherwise the abuse of it would be rampant. Anybody remember what happened to the Krogan from Mass Effect when the Salarians uplifted them? Well, I'll be willing to bet that similar problems would happen here.

[Secundum]

Shame it ended. I think I'd have preferred if the story was a full on AU. I just found the ending really depressing. =(

[CalebH]

Thank you for sharing such an excellent story with us.

[Love is free]

The story may be over but god dam was it one hell of a ride

[Gamerdestiny6]

SEQUEL!!!!!!!!

[Duke Moon II]

Absolutely loved it. Glad I stuck with it after all these years.

[EonAon]

8154710 personally nanotech without one hella tech base is impossible. I mean you have to have the computers to make the machines to make the computers to make the machines that make the nanobots. Yes that doubling was intentional. Lets not forget the trouble of hard programming/soft programming the little buggers to actually work.

[Darthvalgaav]

8154662 AT the end of the story, Scootaloo is with her birth parents

[Dusk Star Shine]

8154801 OH, I always thought in the show that she was an Orphan, also is there any chance you can get some kind of tech from the 1000 Year world, say the tech that healed Scootaloo in the story, to end up landing in Canon MLP world if you do a sequel, after all it would be great for Scootaloo to finally fly on her own.

[Darthvalgaav]

8154832 Well my Sisters story is going to be about Twilight and Scootaloo While it won't be a sequel it will still have the same heart

[Xanderfox]

8154724 Depends what you mean. The crystal now healed will likely cause the alternate reality inside to continue on it's way. Twilight might become obsessed with curing cross breed syndrome, actually start up a relationship with Shadow Blade, and her encounter with Sunset will Be a lot more awkward. There are sequel options.

[Dusk Star Shine]

8154842 Sweet, can I get a link to your sisters profile so i can make sure to watch for when she posts said story.

[StarzGecko]

Even though I didn't get to finish the story because of so many other stories that take my time, this here is amazing perfect 'the what if' take on the MLP series. From the beloved characters, world building, emotions, history, world and political views, to even background characters this story you wrote is amazing and there are times were it's hard to read because you can never image the beloved characters we know like The Sisters, Sunset, M6, Cadence, Bat ponies, and etc going through very hard tough topics and situations that are like our world.

You did amazing job with the writing skills and I'm still surprise after how long this story is going, that it actually takes place before the Equestria Girls movie which like 4 years ago!

Thank you for the story and I might read it again soon!

[SageBrony07]

Wow. I"m a bit sad at the ending. Maybe one of these shorts will say what happened to this other equestria. Great job.

[JMP]

Well, this epilogue mostly sets aside all the complaints I had with the prologue. I don't think this could have ended better given the first chapter. I'm also glad to hear that this isn't the end of the universe, and that we'll be returning briefly every now and then. Anyways, I really liked this story. I thought it was absolutely fantastic.

[Darthvalgaav]

8154857 No, the story is called Sisters

[Dusk Star Shine]

8154945 OH, well don't I feel sheepish now.

OH MY GOSH, you did not just say that line.

Pinkie what's wrong?

That line you just said, it was one said in that Disney Movie Aladdin, it was one of Genie's lines and may his voice actor Robin Williams rest in peace.

OH......I am so sorry Pinkie can you ever forgive me?

Well.........................................Okay, but you got to Pinkie Promise to not make those kinds of movie lines again.

Okay Pinkie, I Dusk Star Shine cross my heart and hope to fly and stick a cupcake in my eye that I will never crack another movie line or joke in a review.

[bloodwolf432]

Well, this was fun. It has been so long that I honestly forgot how this story started. Well, I'm hoping for more stories like this with more fun adventures and less overly long update times.

[i_am_the_jam]

[aplauso]

[MasterPhoenix93]

8154618 Looks like it

[thewookie1]

Wow, what a ride.

Last Mane 6 Comments:
Hi darthvalgaav, and fellow readers!!! I'm Pinkie Pie, but silly me, you already know that.... or I guess you're silly. My friends and I have enjoyed broadcasting our reactions to you about our alternate selves in other alternate selves living in an alternate dimension. And I just wanted to thank you all for four years of fun!!! Oh! And if I can throw you guys a party, I will! Alright girls let's say bye!!
Bye yall?
Bye?
Eeep
Salutations
Good bye

Meanwhile a ethereal cloud watches:
What if Scenario: What if the Mane 6 watched another Mane 6 watching another Mane 6 as they inhabited the bodies of another Mane 6 in a world where Nightmare Moon never existed.
Alright girls, looks like the shows over.
Wasn't that fun!!
Sure Pinkie, but why did we watch it through another version of ourselves view?
The Pinkie we were watching now owes me 20 bits

[Scarheart]

Good finish!

[Xaldon Ajide]

About to Cry I am, Sequel Please.

PS, awesome story. Really I do want to see more of it.

[J-90]

Great finale for great story. And nice touch with Shadow being willing to give a try in getting to know Twilight.
Also hoping Molten got some serious earful of RCV from Oceana after NM incident.

And also sad you can only give one like per story...

[Ardent Dusk]

This is absolutely my favorite story on this site, and I'm happy it had a good ending.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

8154618 Not till the fish jumps.

[Admiral Q Ponyform]

Yup Nightmare Moon and those thestrals deaths were major changing points. i wonder if she also realized her father's teachings were also to blame.

[Dlaf rferg]

8154672 If you read a bit, it says that Scoots parents are the same in both time lines, except they didn't get murderered normally.

[Nessos25]

Echo fell to the ground in front of me while death began to claim him. His last words were asking where his mother was.

I felt a slight sting in my chest at this sentence, then I coughed a bit blood.

[AyanamiRei]

Shit's about to get REAL here folks! I imagine in the next chapter we'll see our first big fight scene since we last saw the Master of Chaos!

[TheMyth]

Please let there be an adoption fic with Twilight and Scootaloo... Twilight is best mother for her

And more ShadowLight

[Freewing Alchemist P]

I'm sad so see that it is over but I am glad that it had good ending. I mean it was good, I was afraid that it would be a dream ending. You did a good job and I am glad that you wrote it. Thanks for all the time an effort you put into this.
Best wish and Good luck for the future.

Oh, I liked what happened to Holy Justus, Tortuous, Nice I can just see Terik in the next cell over.
Terik looks over to him "So, what you in for?"
Holy replies. "Killing Bat Ponies..."
Terik replies. "That's too evil, don't ever talk to me again."
Holy slumps down in his cage.

Thought I am wondering what happen to Blue Blood to make him more of a push over. Or Scootaloo's mother? Poison Apple, is she OK? Then there is the Griffens, a thriving nations to ruin what happened there? Or the little Bat Filly, Night Blossom?

[Darthvalgaav]

8155586
Poisoned Apple is going to be getting her own one shot as well as a few other character all set in the normal U.

As for the Griffin, remember that I wrote them in before Griffinstone was introduced. That will be the version I will use.
8155406

Molten will be returning

8155553

Fight?

[Darthvalgaav]

8155657
She has her own side story if you are interested

[Advent Link]

A great conclusion. Interested to see what other plans you have for the future.

[Daralyn]

Like I said before, tough I would ike it better if the end would not be so abrupt, all in all it was decent and satisfying ending.
Only other thing that irked me was death of Lighting Dust that felt just like an unnecessary plot device.
Aside ot that most things were decent or better than decent and I specifically liked the portrayal of Xenophobia, Racism and Bigotry. Those were made very well.
There are few issues with wording or misspells that escaped you or your proofreaders, but nothing major and it definitely belongs to my tops favorite list
I think I will reread it soon in one piece and I will try to make someone like Visualpony To acknowledge it for audiobook

[Daralyn]

8154710
And thus Fallout Equestria becomes cannon.

[Darthvalgaav]

8156326
One of the main characters uses a cheat sheet to pass his eye exam to get into the air force. Pre WW2. Potentially putting other people's lives at risk.