Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and a mysterious man named Mr Turner are sent on a mission to stop Queen Chrysalis. However, where she is makes for some complications...
Mr Turner was always fascinated, not only with Time Travel, but also exploring the many Worlds the Multiverse has to offer. His dream would finally come true when Princess Celestia tells him that Queen Chrysalis is rebuilding her Changeling Army in an entirely different Universe to their own. Not only that but a certain Princess of Friendship and her Dragon companion get roped into coming along with him on a Quest to an entirely different World and its history that has never been explored before by Pony-kind.
There was a beautiful celebratory air on the day of Twilight’s Coronation. Ponies were celebrating in the best way they knew how to, throwing hundreds of parties all over the land of Equestria, celebrating the new Princess. Ponies danced in the streets, in their houses, in the sky. There wasn’t a single inhabitant that wasn’t overjoyed over the crowning of Princess Twilight Sparkle.
That is, except for one Earth Pony, Time Turner. He was sat in his little house in Ponyville, drowning out any and all noise from entering his mind, using stuffed balls of Cotton Wool in his ears. Using his two front hooves he appeared to be carving a wooden ornament from a block of wood, to go with a collection he had made for his shelves, which contained musty old books on Science, Time Travel and many other concepts brought up by many great Magic Users and Scientists alike over the past millennia. Time sat his comfy leather chair in almost pitch blackness, looking at all the other Ponies celebrating through closed curtains.
Ugh, he thought, what were they celebrating, another new Princess? Give me a break.
The Pony had a project upon which he was working on, which was far too complex for him or any one Pony to achieve, causing a lot of unnecessary stress. Over time his confidence over this had made the former bubbly, eager, eccentric personality of his dwindle into that of spite and jealousy. This made Time Turner scorn at anything that came his way, but this was multiplied upon hearing of the new Princess.
Out of nowhere, though, came Princess Celestia, teleporting into Time Turner’s house using her powerful Alicorn magic, it gave the Earth Pony a fright as he jumped in his seat. The God-like creature, even though she looked tired after the events of the day, she still carried herself like any good ruler would do, and still looked at Time Turner with the utmost seriousness.
‘Celestia, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be celebrating Twilight’s coronation?’ Time asked with a shocked tone.
‘Yes, Time Turner. However, there are more pressing issues at hand.’ Celestia intrusively decided to look at all the small ornaments in the Brown Pony’s humble abode, which put him on edge.
‘Like what?’ He asked trying to divert the conversation elsewhere. On second inspection the Princess could smell a hint of alcohol coming from Turner’s breath.
‘I’m just going to cut to the chase. I have heard from an outside source that Queen Chrysalis is reforming her Changeling Army.’ Celestia said with regret.
‘And how does this concern me?’ Time Turner started to get annoyed at the Princess’s presence in his drunken state, which is unlike any other Pony in the kingdom.
‘Well… she’s not rebuilding her empire here,’ Celestia started to explain. ‘Instead, she’s figured out an extremely powerful spell of Dark Magic origin. This spell allows her to go into a universe we know very little of, to any time period as well. It’s very difficult to track her location but we need someone who knows the science and how time works in order to help us capture her. That means we need you, Time Turner.’
‘Are you being ridiculous,’ Time Turner scoffed. ‘I’m just the timekeeper. I keep the time, that’s all I was meant for when I got this damn Cutie Mark. All I do is regulate the time in Ponyville so then Ponies don’t freak out when the clocks stop working and they think time has stopped.’ He muttered, pointing to his flank, which showed that his Cutie Mark was an hour glass, an obvious symbol of Timekeeping.
‘I know that, but don’t play dumb with me, Time Turner. I know all about your little “experiments”.’ Celestia gave a smirk that made her appear confident.
Time Turner let out a sigh, got out of his chair and began to lead Celestia someplace else. They ventured down a flight of stairs which appeared to go underground. When they finally reached the bottom and into Time Turner’s basement, Celestia was shocked at the many contraptions there actually were. Different machines of varying sizes all played in a circle, in the middle of said circle, there appeared to be some kind of launch pad or mat, with many different things connected to the pad from the machines. This chaotic mess was a sight to behold, but Time Turner looked at it with resent and embarrassment.
‘Wow,’ Celestia said in awe, looking around the many contraptions. ‘I didn’t think that your progression in time travel was as advanced as this! Was this at all based upon Starswirl’s original blueprints?’’
‘Well, yeah, but I made a few adjustments to adapt to the advanced technology,’ Time Turner said with a hint of pride showing in his tone. ‘It’s only a prototype, and even then I’ve not tested it, it’s far too dangerous.’
‘It does need some polishing,’ the Princess pondered for a second. ‘I’ll discuss with the engineers in Canterlot about this.’
‘What?! You can’t do that, this is my work!’ Turner started to become as rotten as he usually can be, despite speaking to the ruler of Equestria.
‘You didn’t let me finish,’ Celestia still spoke in her calm demeanour to combat the snappy behaviour from Time Turner. ‘I want you to lead the project in readjusting and improving this time machine until it is fully capable of transporting any pony through any dimension to any time.’
‘But Princess, that’s such a difficult job,’ Time began to panic when the news hit him like a ton of bricks. ‘Surely you can’t get someone else in with more experience?’
‘Mr Turner, I have complete confidence you will be fine.’ Celestia placed a hoof onto Time Turner’s shoulder, calming him down.
‘Well I guess if you say so.’ He responded, looking to the ground.
It was 7 o’clock the following morning. Princess Celestia had just raised the sun, and sat on her throne, waiting for a guest she had invited the previous night.
Suddenly, Time Turner came rushing in, he wore a long scarf that wrapped around his neck, he carried a paper cup filled with strong coffee in one of his hooves, and a bag on his back that was filled to the brim with notes and other devices that he felt was necessary, he looked exhausted.
‘I’m sorry I’m late Princess,’ He said, panting like a dog. ‘I missed my alarm and the trains up here from Canterlot were delayed and-’
‘Mr Turner, you’re only 3 minutes late.’ Celestia said with a royal laugh.
‘I know, I just like being on time, considering it’s in my name and all.’ Turner awkwardly said with a chuckle in his voice.
The Princess rolled her eyes and gave another laugh. ‘Anyway, these Gentlecolts would like you to follow them.’ Celestia raised her arm and pointed at a scrawny Colt in a lab coat.
Time Turner wandered with the Pony Engineer until they reached a large hall-like room, where there were about twenty other ponies, all staring at him, which was brought as quite a shock to him.
‘Now, we’ve been ordered by Celestia to build this “Time Machine”,’ the Head Engineer addressed the Earth Pony, rolling his eyes. ‘Do you have any blueprints that we can use as a starting point?’
Time Turner lifted the bag off his back and dropped it on the floor, spilling out the hundreds upon hundreds of notes and prints onto the floor. The team of Engineers began to get curious and excited.
‘Here you are,’ Turner said with a smile. ‘Now let’s get building!’
As the coming months passed, the small team, under the instruction of Time Turner, began to construct a new and improved version of the Time Machine. The production was an on/off process. Especially under certain circumstances such as the Machine almost being completely destroyed by the overgrown roots of the Everfree Forest. Many of the crew failed to turn up during the period where Tirek attacked Equestria, and the production had to be called off for many weeks until everypony was able to work again. But after 9 months of slogging their guts out, through the blood, sweat and tears, the Time Machine had been constructed. The final stage of testing had begun.
Time Turner placed a camera and tripod on the newly constructed transportation pad and pressed record.
‘Right, this is just for the camera, but this is the final non-pony test for the “TT-6102” or it’s Codename: “Mercury”,’ Turner spoke in a professional manner towards the camera. ‘The three tests we are going to do today will be of time travel, dimension jumping and both in unison. I have my assistant here who will cast the spell to activate “Mercury”. Are you ready?’
‘I most certainly am, Mr Turner.’ The eager assistant chirped.
‘Alright, let me just adjust the settings, and we will begin.’ Turner seemed very excited that it was hard to disguise it on camera, despite how overworked and close to falling asleep he was. He went over to the main control panel and began to press several buttons and twisted a few dials. Time Turner then returned to the camera.
‘Our first location will be involving time travel, and I have set the location for last year’s Winter Wrap Up in Ponyville for a 5 second duration,’ He turned to the assistant. ‘On the count of three, fire the spell. One! Two! THREE!’
The young assistant fired a mighty multi-coloured spell from her horn, which sent the Time Machine working. There were many loud noises and flashing lights that made the room seem like an overblown lights show. In a massive explosion, the camera was gone.
Time Turner and the rest of the crew waited in silent anticipation, beads of sweat dripped from Turner’s head, hoping that his machine could actually work.
Finally the Camera returned in another flash of light and a bang, and the Ponies gave a sigh of relief. Time Turner recollected himself and spoke once again after readjusting the controls:
‘Secondly, this Camera shall experience Dimension Hopping, which means going to an alternative universe entirely. I have selected to go to the world which is already assessable by Pony-kind, this being the world that lies upon the portal in the Crystal Empire. Once again on my mark, One! Two! THREE!’
The assistant once again fired the spell, which got the Time Machine working again. As the machines engine revved greatly, the camera once again disappeared and returned successfully, making the crew excited, knowing they only had one more test left to complete, albeit the most difficult.
‘Finally, we shall be trying to transport the camera both through time and through to a different dimension at the same time. For this I have equipped that the camera go forward in time by five years to a world where Nightmare Moon rules instead of Celestia.’ Time Turner said proudly.
‘That’s a very ambitious choice there, Mr Turner.’ His assistant, looking weary from performing the highly difficult and dangerous spell, responded.
‘Thank you, now, for the final time, on my command. One! Two! THREE!!’
The final spell from the assistant was cast, and she collapsed in an exhausted state. The machine, also tired from the constant strain it’s had put on it, made a very loud grating noise as the Camera was sent on its journey into a different time and dimension. So loud in fact, all the crew had to cover their ears. That is except for Time Turner, who was determined to see if his magnum opus was in working order.
When the Camera disappeared, there was a much longer silence this time, about fifteen seconds. Whilst this time was still short, many of the Engineers had now thought that there was no recovering the potentially lost recording.
Suddenly, in a blinding burst of light and sound that shook the very room in Canterlot Castle, the Camera returned back into the room. The Machine then shut down completely, exhausted of all the power it had used. All other artificial light sources blinked off as well, leaving the team in mostly darkness.
Time Turner stopped the recording and took a look at the recording. When the machine was first activated, he saw the camera beginning to gather static on the screen, but then it pictured a beautiful snow covered depiction of Ponyville. This was in no doubt a successful transportation to the Winter Wrap Up that Turner had requested, which made him more than excited.
Then when the second phase of the experiment was put into place, the Camera gained the same amount of static as before, which Time decided was a side effect to the device reacting negatively with the transportation. Then he saw a new world, in darkness, but Turner could make out that it was most probably building of some sort, which was shut for the day. This world was the one beyond the Crystal Empire based off of reports, so Turner nodded his head in satisfaction.
So two of the three experiments had been completed successfully, making Time Turner happy, yet there was still the third, and most difficult of the experiments yet to come. As the Camera made its final journey, the static returned with a vengeance, almost making the video unwatchable. When the grey pixels cleared, however, Turner saw exactly what he wanted. The footage was very dark, with what appeared to be a large amount of Foliage growing, probably from the Everfree Forest. In the last second before the Camera came back, there was a glimpse of a Pony in purple armour, no doubt the signature brand of Nightmare Moon.
Time Turner knew what this meant, the experiments were a success. He ran around the room and hugged every single tired, cranky, yet joy-filled Crew member. His wish had become a reality.
‘Now, we can finally set my plan in motion.’ Celestia said in delight after hearing of the good news.
‘What would that be, Princess?’ Time Turner was still exhilarated and it showed in his voice.
‘Well, I need somepony to go back in time and into this Dimension, find Chrysalis and stop her before she can release her Changeling Army. We have no idea when she can attack.’ Celestia kept her head held high whilst perched on her throne.
‘I have a feeling you were going to ask me to do this.’ Turner said with a hint of worry in his voice.
‘Yes, Mr Turner,’ It was more than apparent that ‘Mr Turner’ was no longer a little nickname used by the Princess, but the only thing the stallion gets called nowadays by every Pony in the castle. He liked it, however. ‘But whilst you may be knowledgeable on the transportation and time in general, we need someone who knows Chysalis well enough to face her in combat.’
‘What about you, can’t you come along?’ Mr Turner asked curiously.
‘Oh, I would, but if I were to dismiss my Princessly Duties, even for a second, the entirety of Equestia may crumble.’ The Monarch said in an upset tone.
‘Well, who could actually do a mission as potentially dangerous as this?’ Turner looked to the ground in dismay. Celestia rubbed her hoof against her jaw to show that she was thinking. All of a sudden her eyes widened and a small smirk grew on her face.
Twilight Sparkle had started out her day as she usually would have. She woke up from her sleeping quarters, went downstairs and retrieved breakfast from Spike, her Right-Hand Man and Best Friend.
‘Morning, Twilight,’ He said in his usual high-pitched tone, placing some Fried Eggs onto her plate. ‘Gee, you look rough.’ Spike added on, noticed how bloodshot Twilight’s eyes were.
‘Yeah, I guess you could say that.’ The Princess said rather dryly, staring at the yellow eggs as if they were staring back.
‘Why, what’s up?’ The little Dragon sat in his high chair as he listened to Twilight ramble.
‘Well, ever since I defeated Tirek a couple of weeks ago my body’s been really worn out, almost like all that magic I used had completely messed me up, physically and mentally.’ She groaned, but she began to wolf down the eggs.
‘Hmmmm,’ Spike rubbed his chin with a claw. ‘Well, I suppose you need some rest. You haven’t stopped since you got this Castle.’
‘Yeah, but I’m a Princess now, and that means I can’t just slack off, I have work to do.’ Twilight said with a mouth full of food, she rolled her eyes and sank back into her meal.
‘I think you need to have a break though, you can’t just constantly keep on working. If you do, you’ll get really sick.’ Spike spoke really softly. Twilight could tell he was desperate.
‘I know. I’ll speak to the Princess about it.’ She gave a forced smile, but Spike replied with a genuine one.
Suddenly, Spike felt a strange feeling in his throat, an almost burning sensation that felt like excess gas attempting to escape. As Spike let out a burp, a letter, forged from the flames he created, was presented in front of the two of them. The seal on the scroll was that of the Royal Canterlot Monarchy, no doubt Princess Celestia trying to reach out to Twilight Sparkle.
She was shocked. She rarely ever received a letter from Princess Celestia nowadays, let alone one that would not be a reply to a previously sent letter from Twilight. She opened with a quick yank and read the contents inside:
‘My Dearest Twilight,
As a request from myself and as a matter of urgency, I need you to come to the Canterlot Castle at once. I have some very important and confidential information we need to discuss, that I cannot simply do over letters. I expect to see you within the hour.
Yours Sincerely, Princess Celestia.’
‘Spike?’ Twilight beckoned.
‘Yes, Princess?’ He asked in return.
‘We’re gonna go on a little trip to Canterlot.’
‘Awesome!’ Spike raised his fists in the air and cheered as the duo left the kitchen of the castle.
So Twilight got on the first train to Canterlot that morning, with an eager Spike at her side. She gazed out the window of the many happy Ponies going about their day, whether they were commuting into work or just relaxing in Celestia’s Sun. Twilight let out a sigh and spread out her Alicorn wings, wincing in pain.
‘I hate feeling like this, Spike.’ The exhausted Princess of Friendship spoke to her companion.
‘I know, Twi, but you’ll see. Having a couple of days off to let off steam will do wonders, you just need to see what the Princess want’s from you first, ‘tis all.’ Spike responded, after which he continued to hum a merry tune, swinging his stubby legs back and forth.
As Twilight and Spike’s Train arrived in Canterlot Station, three members of the Royal Guard stood in silence outside of her carriage, which approached them with zero caution and bewildering the Princess and her companion.
‘We have been instructed by Princess Celestia to escort you to the Castle.’ One of the Guards said in a low, unintentionally threatening voice.
‘I am capable of doing that myself.’ Twilight grunted before storming off away from the guards, Spike tottering behind. The Guards simply shrugged and followed closely by to the Princess.
The Grand Door to Celestia’s Throne Room was swung open with an insane amount of force from a more than disgruntled Twilight Sparkle. She walked in with a face of sin, staring coldly at her Mentor and Friend, who simply smiled and kept a regal posture despite Twilight’s dampened mood. With all the stress, pain, and annoyance with the Guards that she had to face this morning, no wonder she was both angry and down at the same time. Spike had followed behind Twilight with the same worried expression he had kept since they got off the Train, and behind him were the three Guards who stood in single file underneath the doorway.
‘Hello, Princess. You wanted to see me?’ Twilight grumbled, looking at the floor and not to the Ruler.
‘Yes, Twilight,’ Celestia stood up out of her throne and walked slowly to her former student. ‘You appear to be upset. Has something happened on your way to the Castle?’
‘Well, I suppose I’ve not been in the most relaxed or optimistic of moods at the moment, but I’ll be fine,’ Twilight then switched moods and tried to look at least somewhat motivated. ‘Anyway, you wished to see me?’
‘Ah, yes,’ Princess Celestia cleared her throat before speaking. ‘A couple of months ago, around the time of your coronation, actually, I got News that Queen Chysalis has been rebuilding a Changeling Army, but not here in Equestria.’
‘Wait, seriously?’ Twilight was in disbelief, surely she must be kidding, she thought.
‘Yes, seriously, we know of where she is in the universe, however this is where things get rather… well… complicated.’ Celestia began to guide Twilight down one of the long corridors of the Canterlot Castle, leaving Spike on his own to bemuse the Royal Guards in the throne room.
‘What do you mean? Where else could she be other than in Equestria? Unless she’s gone Into the Unknown, but we don’t know a lot about anything beyond here!’ Twilight’s voice began to creep up more and more as she was realising truly what was going on.
‘Well, simply put, she has gone to an unknown source to have been taught a Dark Magic spell. When somepony has been able to scan the air, they were able to pick out the exact place where she has gone.’ Celestia felt embarrassed as she began to unravel more and more about the dilemma.
‘Where has she gone to then?’ Twilight was itching to know what was going on.
‘She’s gone into an alternative universe that, according to our recent research, is named “MV84X10”. A world inhabited by humans.’
‘Like the ones in the Portal in the Crystal Empire? That isn’t so much of a problem, right?’
‘Incorrect, this world has absolutely no connection to Pony-kind whatsoever. It is so radically different there, that no pony here exists there, human form or not.’ Celestia spoke with worry in her voice, it was heavy news, and she could tell it had affected Twilight the way she would expect, with anxiety and doubt. However she still attempted to keep the situation under control, if not for herself, then for Celestia, who looked in a state that is unlike her whatsoever.
‘Then, tell me what you want me to do.’ Twilight was expecting the obvious at this point.
‘I need you to be the pony to find Chrysalis and stop her before it’s too late, her Changelings could attack at any moment.’
Twilight felt a surge of doubt rush through her, as though the entire course of her existence would change depending on the answer she was to give. The Princess looked to her Ruler with worried, wet eyes, letting the whole situation sink in.
‘I don’t know if I can do this.’ Twilight finally burst into tears at Celestia’s feet. ‘I’m so sorry Princess, but doing this all by myself-’
‘Now,’ Celestia cut off her crying friend, letting out a reassuring grin. ‘Who said that you would be coming alone? Follow me, Twilight.’
Sniffling up any remaining tears that were bound to be released, Twilight followed her mentor through the castle. The two Alicorns found themselves in a large hall that appeared to look highly unused until recently. Many Ponies either in hard hats or lab coats ran around like mad, trying to get as much work as possible. However, in the middle of it all, standing in front of a large mechanical contraption was a Brown Earth Pony Stallion. He had a scarf on and thick framed glasses placed on his face. He proceeded to write down many equations and notes using just his mouth onto a piece of paper, laid onto the floor.
‘Twilight, I would like you to meet Mr Turner. He will be joining you on this mission if you so wish to take it.’ Celestia raised her long front leg and tapped Turner on the back with her hoof, startling him and snapping him out of his focused state. He turned around and gave a sheepish smile before offering Twilight a hoof to shake, which she took.
‘Hello, Princess,’ Turner said after clearing his throat, his ears cocked back for fear of nervousness or embarrassment. ‘It’s such an honour to meet you. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you!’
‘Why thank you,’ Twilight chirped with a smile before looking around. ‘Now what is all of this?’
Mr Turner stood up and trotted over to the large metallic piece of equipment in the centre of the room, of which the most of the Ponies had gathered around to admire and make notes on.
‘This is my magnum opus,’ He spoke smugly which a wide grin from ear to ear. ‘This baby is called the “TT-6102”, but since that isn’t catchy at all, we decided to give it the nickname “Mercury”. What you’re looking at here is a Time Machine.’
‘Wow,’ Twilight’s eyes began to glisten as she saw the majesty of the metal contraption. It looked so refined, so professional, it was unlike anything she had ever seen before in her life. ‘It’s so beautiful.’
‘Just a couple of days ago we finished all the testing we needed on this Bad Boy,’ Mr Turner told the Princess. ‘So this should be fully capable of transporting us to Chrysalis’s location, despite how awkward the location of the Universe she’s gone to.’
‘What do you mean, how could her Universe have a location?’ Twilight began to look pretty dumbfounded at the whole science of Time Travel.
‘Well you see, let’s say our Universe is in the Centre of everything,’ Turner began to think and ramble as he was trying to explain and dumb down the complex theory. ‘Have you ever heard of the Chaos Theory?’
‘The Theory that every single action and decision we make will create an entirely different Universe based on the outcome?’ Twilight said with confidence.
‘Yes, Correct,’ Turner whimpered, he was impressed at the Mare’s knowledge, no doubt, but he still tried to let his intellect and professionalism shine through. ‘Well they are easy for us to travel to, and therefore are “closer” to us, as so little has changed in those worlds. Beyond those are Universes where there is a substantial difference had happened in the timeline.’
‘Would that be like the Universe where the Ponies in this world are actually Humans instead?’
‘That’s a good example,’ Mr Turner smirked. ‘Further beyond that, however, are worlds that are so unlike ours, with no trace at all to our existence at all, are the “furthest” and most difficult to travel to. Queen Chrysalis lies in a Universe like that.’
‘So we need to travel to that Universe and then we will find Chrysalis?’ Twilight Sparkle now was engaged the concept of transporting to different Universes, warming up to the idea of going with Mr Turner.
‘Well that of course, but we also need to go back in time too, meaning that this journey will be an extremely dangerous one.’
‘Dangerous?’ Twilight’s confidence had taken a hit as Turner spoke that word, making her cower in shock.
‘I’d rather we speak about this at another time, when I’m not so busy,’ Turner began to collect his entanglements in his hoof. ‘How about we meet in my place in Ponyville this evening to get into the complexities of things, say 6 o’clock-ish?’
Twilight gulped.
‘Yes, sure, see you then.’ She replied half-heartedly, watching Mr Turner gallop off into a different room.
Celestia had hung back throughout the conversation, watching it unravel. As Turner left, she approached the Princess, who looked like she was attempting to show her nervousness.
‘Twilight, are you alright? You look like something has troubled you.’ The Monarch said with concern. ‘I sort of am troubled by something, I was sold on Mr Turner telling me all about the different Universe’s and such, but then as soon as he says that the transportation will be dangerous, it just made me worried.’ Twilight’s ears were pointing backwards, not even being able to make eye contact with the Princess as she spoke.
‘Twilight, it will be dangerous, but I know your determination, and I don’t doubt that you will be fine. I chose you for a reason.’
‘I guess so.’
‘You have until tomorrow morning to make a choice, I’m afraid. That’s when we plan to execute the mission.’ Celestia announced, making Twilight Sparkle even more worried.
‘Okay, Princess, I won’t let you down.’ Twilight made another forced smile and bowed, her body aching in pain doing so. This made her conceal a scream.
‘Thank you. I’ll see you later, Twilight.’ Celestia smiled and walked out of the room, leaving the Alicorn alone in the sea of worker Ponies, all following Mr Turner’s command.
‘You’ve gotta do it, Twilight! Travelling in time would be, like, super cool!’ Spike shouted in excitement, his mouth filled with a gem-flavoured cookie.
After the meeting with Princess Celestia and Mr Turner, Twilight Sparkle had decided to take her and Spike out to one of the many Cafés available in Canterlot to grab a spot of lunch. The Princess slowly chowed down her Daisy sandwich as Spike had a Gem burger followed by the aforementioned Gem Cookie.
‘Well I don’t know. What if I’m gone for a long time? What if I don’t come back? How would you look after yourself without me?’ Twilight’s paranoia was still lingering from before, and it was noticeable in the shaky way she spoke.
‘Well I mean you have at least five friends who know me almost as well as you do, so I wouldn’t worry about that,’ Spike said reassuringly. ‘Besides, you will come back, there’s no doubt about that.’
‘I can’t be so sure about that.’ Twilight munched on her sandwich slowly and regretfully.
‘Listen, Twilight,’ Spike jumped up onto the table and practically yelled, causing other patrons of the café to start looking their way. ‘You ALWAYS go into dangerous mission or impossible tasks. That’s why you’re a Princess in the first place! You lead the Elements of Harmony to stop evil forces that not even Celestia herself could manage. Trust me, you will be fine.’
‘You know what, you’re right,’ Twilight swallowed the last bite of her sandwich and gave a determined look. ‘Princess Celestia called me onto this mission and I said I won’t let her down, so I’m going with my gut and I’m going to do it. I’m going to stop Chrysalis!’
This sudden revelation caused Spike to cheer ecstatically, which made some of the customers roll their eyes in embarrassment.
‘I’m meeting Mr Turner at his house later if you want to come along?’ The Princess asked her Dragon friend.
‘Why I would love you, my liege.’ Spike said regally, giving a fancy bow in the process. The two of them chuckled, paid for their meals and left the bustling café.
The hours ticked away, and thus it had come to the time where Twilight Sparkle had agreed to meet with Mr Turner, so she went to his house that lay towards the outskirts of Ponyville. The building appeared to keep in a rustic style like many of the houses in this area, meaning these were probably some of the first that were erected in the Town. The roof was thatched, the walls were constructed from old oak wood and iron, and it was all in pretty good shape as well. Princess Twilight took a deep look at the structure as a whole, absorbing its traditional look, before giving a knock on the wooden door.
After about a few seconds, she heard the sound of hooves approaching the door, followed by the door opening with a lot of effort and creaking, stood there was a very exhausted Mr Turner, who had large bags under his eyes and yawned frequently.
‘Ah, yes, Twilight, so glad you could come! Step this way.’ Turner showed the Princess in before quietly closing the door behind him.
The interior of Mr Turner’s house was just as old-fashioned as the exterior. Many clocks of varying sizes hung on the wall, wooden ornaments were displayed on dusty bookcases and many books the size of Twilight’s head were strewn around the room. Turner sat down in a grand leather chair and indicated Twilight and Spike to sit on a sofa opposite him. In the middle of the two ponies stood a coffee table that had a bottle of Whiskey, a glass filled with the same substance, and another glass that was empty.
‘Sorry, I’ve only just gotten home myself so I couldn’t really spruce up the place. Care for some Whiskey?’ Mr Turner said enthusiastically, holding up the bottle with one hoof and the empty glass with another.
‘I’ll be alright. I don’t drink.’ Twilight said shyly, smiling sheepishly in the process.
‘Alright, more for me,’ Turner said jokingly before giving a somewhat deadpan expression. ‘First things first, Miss Sparkle, have you made a decision about tomorrow? Are you going to accompany me on this mission?’
‘I thought long and hard about it, and I have decided I’m going to take it up, despite the risks at hand.’ Twilight responded, trying to replicate the serious look that Turner had.
‘Wonderful,’ Turner relaxed his face before taking a drink from his glass. ‘So I’m going to have to give some details as well as some items we’ll need.’
‘I’m ready when you are.’ Twilight said, smiling her usual friendly smile. You could tell she was a natural leader even without her Alicorn wings.
‘Good,’ Turner cleared his throat and spoke clearly. ‘Firstly, this world is a very difficult one I’ve tried to study these past 10 or so months. I’ve gotten some information from Miss Heartstrings about traditional Human customs, particularly the Era we’re planning to venture to.’
‘Where would that be, if you don’t mind me asking?’ Twilight asked, giving an interested, yet doubtful expression.
‘I do not know where we will end up, but I do know what year we will enter, which would be…’ Mr Turner pulled out his notebook and looked through the pages quickly before looking back at Twilight. ‘Nineteen Forty-Two. What would be going on at this time we aren’t sure for either.’ He finished.
‘Right okay, I’m sorry, continue.’ Twilight nodded to let Mr Turner carry on, which he accepted.
‘Well we came up fruitless when it came to working out what the culture was like, so we’re going to have to get accustomed to things as soon as we arrive. That means finding the right clothes, items, weapons; the whole lot. If we showcase any of our Equestrian technology, things could get pretty nasty for us.’
‘All of this sounds complicated.’ Twilight added.
‘I know,’ Turner sighed. ‘But it’s the best we can do. We do not know a whole lot about MV84X10 that would be of any use to us, considering the Time Period.’
‘I understand,’ Twilight started to feel a little nervous again but tried to contain it. ‘Is there anything else we need to know?’
‘One thing Heartstrings did tell me was that we need to have “Human Names”.’ Turner then proceeded to grab a scroll from out of his satchel with his teeth and threw it across the floor. The seemingly endless scroll hadn’t completely unravelled by the time it hit the far wall of the Living Room, even though it was almost covering the floor with how long it was. Twilight was shocked.
‘But I thought that Humans had similar names to us Ponies, they are through the portal.’ She kept her jaw gaping in disbelief as she muttered.
‘Yes, but what did I say about us not even leaving a trace of our existence, Twilight?’
‘Yeah, I guess so…’
Spike, after remaining silent throughout this entire meeting thus far, decided to speak up.
‘So, what does this scroll contain?’ He asked out of curiosity.
‘The many combinations of names one can have in that Universe, though that’s all that Lyra knows,’ Turner replied with a smile. ‘The Princess will have to decide on a suitable name whilst we are staying in MV84X10.’
‘Awww cool,’ Spike smiled at his friend. ‘You should pick a name that sounds really awesome, Twi.’
‘I agree, partially there, my friend,’ Mr Turner chuckled. ‘Miss Sparkle, I suggest a name that is somewhat similar to yours however, so it’s easy to remember. My name in this world is Time Turner, and fortunately enough Turner still exists as a last name in that Universe. So I changed my first name to Terence, seems rather fitting, don’t you think?’
‘Can’t you give me some time to ponder over it?’ Twilight asked.
‘Why yes, you can take the scroll with you, however it would be best if you knew by tomorrow morning, before we go.’ Turner said with strictness.
‘You have my word.’ Twilight said, with Spike ravelling back up the mighty scroll as the two Ponies both discussed.
‘Twilight, I want to discuss with you what we’re doing with regards to “Mercury” now, and how that’s going to work.’ Turner began to sit more upright in his chair as he took another drink of Whiskey.
‘Alright, I’m all ears.’ Twilight responded.
‘Well, under any usual circumstances, when we transport something through “Mercury”, we set a time limit,’ Turner explained. ‘But since we have no idea how long this mission will take, we haven’t set a time limit, which causes one major problem.’
‘What would that problem be?’ Twilight asked with uncertainty.
‘Well, we have no way of getting back to this world,’ Turner replied with sorrow. ‘Well, I say we have, I mean we had!’ He giggled as he pulled out a little wooden box, which contained three tiny necklaces, containing gold clock faces on them, they glittered beautifully and Twilight couldn’t help but be blown away by them.
‘They’re gorgeous,’ she whimpered. ‘But what are they for?’
‘Well, once our mission is completed, we just activate these necklaces and just like that we will be home,’ Turner picked up one of the little clocks and stared deeply into it. ‘However, all of the necklaces must be activated before there can be a transportation.’
Twilight Sparkle noticed something odd and decided to address this:
‘Why are there three necklaces?’ She asked.
‘You see,’ Mr Turner chuckled a little before picking the spare one up. ‘I made this for your little Dragon friend, if he so wishes to come.’
Spike was so surprised and happy at this opportunity his eyes began to twinkle in many different colours. He placed his claws on his cheeks as his jaw gaped open.
‘Oh boy, do I!’ He said ecstatically.
‘No Spike,’ Twilight grunted. ‘It’s too dangerous!’
‘But I want to be helping you, not just waiting for you to return, which could be months.’
‘Actually,’ Mr Turner spoke up. ‘I’ve set the necklaces to transport us home 5 seconds after our departure, so no matter how long we are, everypony else will see us go and reappear in seconds.’
‘See, you won’t be waiting long, Spike.’ Twilight grumbled.
‘Twilight,’ Spike’s eyes began to well up. ‘I don’t want to see you get hurt.’
There was a silence of about five or so seconds, that appeared to drag on for a Millennia. Twilight tittered and rolled her eyes:
‘Okay fine, you can come along.’
‘Yes! Thank you Twi!’ Spike went and hugged the Alicorn who just smiled.
‘But I want you to always be by my side. Mr Turner and I don’t even know what could be lurking in that world.’ Twilight Sparkle said to the little Dragon.
‘Aye aye, Captain.’ Spike scowled and saluted, making the two Ponies laugh.
‘Oh Spike, what would I do without you.’ Twilight chuckled, patting his scaly head in the process.
The next hour or so from then on was spent with Mr Turner explaining the nooks and crannies of the mission, as well as the three of them socialising and getting to know each other before they made their trip the next day. Soon enough, Twilight started to yawn, and she realised that Spike had been asleep on her lap for a while now.
‘I think I should hit the hay, it’s getting late.’ Twilight stretched, her still aching body making her give in and cringe at the pain.
‘Understandably,’ Turner agreed. ‘Remember though, make sure you’re at the castle for 10 o’clock sharp!’
‘Don’t worry, Mr Turner, I won’t let you down.’ Twilight giggled, winking and placing Spike on her back. Although applying any pressure to her back would cause pain for her, Spike was pretty light, making the aching not too bad for her.
‘Goodnight, Miss Sparkle.’
‘Goodnight.’
And thus, at 9:30 the following morning, Twilight, Spike, and their five ever caring friends stood waiting for the Train to take the duo up to Canterlot.
‘So you’re sayin’,’ Applejack adjusted the Stetson on her head as she spoke. ‘That you could be gone for weeks, maybe months, but for us you’ll be back in five seconds?’
‘Yes, that’s right Applejack, crazy, isn’t it?’ Spike said in excitement.
‘You’re telling me…’ Rainbow Dash muttered.
‘Well, however long you’ll be, we wish you the best of luck darlings.’ Rarity gave the two of them a hug, to which the other four joined in on.
‘Yeah, we’ll throw a ‘Twilight-and-Spike-went-to-an-alternate-Universe-and-Stop-the-Changeling’s’ Party!’ Pinkie yelled, almost deafening everyone.
‘Good luck, Twilight, you’ll do great, you too, Spike.’ Fluttershy whispered, giving a cute smile to accompany it.
‘Thank you guys, I’m glad you could all come and wish us luck.’ Twilight smiled, just as the train entered the Ponyville Station and slowing to a halt.
‘Well this is it, see you all in, like, an hour.’ Spike said, making the five Ponies not going laugh.
After a barrage of hugs, kisses, and goodbyes, Princess Twilight Sparkle and her trusty assistant, Spike, were on the train to Canterlot.
‘Princess! Spike! Glad you could make it.’ Mr Turner shouted as the two of them rushed in to meet the 10 o’clock deadline. Stood with Turner were the two regal Princesses, Celestia and Luna, alongside some more worker Ponies overseeing the transition.
‘Hello, Mr Turner. So are we going to make tracks now?’ Twilight panted, placing her many items on a table next to ‘Mercury’.
‘Yes of course. But won’t you want to speak to your fellow Princesses first.’ Turner showed his hoof to Celestia and Luna, both with smiles on their faces.
‘Twilight,’ Celestia said, with which the smaller Princess trotted over to her. ‘I’m very glad you’ve taken this mission up, no doubt you will be successful, all three of you.’
‘Yes indeed. You have taken a great deed for us all,’ Luna nodded and said in agreement. ‘No other Pony or creature in Equestria has done anything like this before, and we are eternally greatful for that.’
‘Thank you both,’ Twilight smiled, bowing to them. ‘I suppose we best get going, saving the Multiverse and all.’ Everyone gave at least a slight chuckle to that statement.
The three heroes placed the necklaces around their necks, which were surprisingly heavy, especially for Spike, and they walked onto the Metal pad. On standby was an assistant, who had her horn glowing in anticipation.
‘Ready?’ Mr Turner asked her.
‘Ready.’ She responded with a face of determination.
‘Are you two ready as well?’ Turner looked to Twilight and Spike, the latter shaking in his scales.
‘Y-y-yes.’ He whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut.
‘As we’ll ever be.’ Twilight said at the same time.
‘Alright,’ Turner smiled at the two before turning his attention to the eager assistant. ‘On my Command.’
‘One!
Two!
THREE!’ And thus, a mighty spell was cast from the assistant’s horn, and into the engine of the machine, which took a second to start working. As many mechanical sounds clanged into the ears of Princess Twilight, she closed her eyes like Spike, bracing for impact. Bright lights began to flash, and electrical currents began to flow violently. Just before the machine was about to activate, Turner spoke up in a shouting tone:
‘Oh, I forgot to tell you, this machine hasn’t been tested with multiple Ponies, let alone one!’
‘Wait,’ Twilight looked up in shock and horror. ‘WHAT?!’
Before an argument could start, however, the trio were zapped by a blue lightning bolt coming from the machine. Finally, there was a flash of epileptic blue and white light, and a grating sound that was almost deafening to the ears of the workers and Princesses.
Once the sound and lights had stopped, and the dust had settled, Mr Turner, Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Dragon were nowhere to be seen.
