//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Time's Fate // Story: The Last Enemy // by derpyland //------------------------------// When the flash of light faded, Twilight found herself standing in the sky. She could see no ground below her and no stars above. There was no visible source of light and yet the realm was not dark. No earth was beneath her hooves, and yet she was standing on something solid – something she could not see. She was also completely alone. “Discord?” she called out. “Where are you?” A voice called back to her. It was a deep voice, massive in power and scope. It carried with it the sound of many waters. “Your friend is not here, princess. He will visit this realm later, but it is not yet his time. For now he has a part to play in the world below. Thanks to you, his role in history will be very different from what it was before.” Twilight looked around. “Where are you?” “I am right in front of you. Can you not see me?” “Um, no. I’m seeing a lot of nothing.” There was silence for a moment, and then the outline of a figure slowly appeared in front of the pony. It was tall – much taller than Twilight. The figure was so bright that Twilight couldn’t bear to look directly at it. “You are very young to be in this place,” the voice said gently. “You are not yet old enough to perceive creatures of light. The shadows and darkness of the old world is something that you understand, but this is new. When you can see us you are blinded, for we do not contain any darkness.” “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you one of the watchers?” “I am. I have come to send you home. You have done well.” “But I don’t have a home anymore,” Twilight said sadly. “Everything I knew and loved is gone.” There was silence. Twilight stood uncomfortably. She tried to look up at the glowing figure, but she had to turn her gaze away. “Tell me, pony. Why do you believe the words of Death? Do you truly believe that everything good in your life was a product of his darkness? Do you think that there can be no joy apart from him?” “Well – I mean – he did have a point. I changed things. That’s great for everypony else, but it’s not so good for me. I don’t really know what to do now. I created a world that doesn’t have a place for me.” As Twilight spoke, the world around her changed. A wooden floor appeared beneath her hooves. Walls appeared out of thin air, and a ceiling formed over her head. Bookshelves grew into place – but strangely, there were no volumes on the shelves. When the room finished forming Twilight realized she was standing in a library – but the library was empty. Then the watcher moved. A pillar of glass grew out of the ground and became a short pedestal. The watcher flew over and placed two books on it. The books were of equal size, bound in white. Twilight stepped closer so she could get a better look at the books. The volume on the left had a single word on it: Old. The volume on the right also bore a single word on its cover: New. “What are these?” she asked. “You know what they are,” the watcher replied. “You have seen such a thing before.” “So… I guess that means they’re timelines. Right? This book here is the old timeline, and that other one is the new one. That’s nice, I guess, but why did you bring me here?” “To show you that you did not change time. Not in the way you think you did. You see, pony, all the events of the old timeline did occur. Your very existence is testimony to that. The new timeline only exists because the old one preceded it. Therefore, nothing that you have done in the past has been lost. It is all still there.” “But my friends don’t remember it!” Twilight protested. “The world is still young,” the watcher replied gently. “You expect a great deal out of a world that has not yet been formed. Give it time. You have not erased the past, for the past cannot be erased. What you have done is given the races of your world a second chance. They will be reborn into a better world. They will have new lives in a far better country – and you will as well.” “But–” The watcher interrupted her. “Twilight, you have done much for your friends. It is time that you let your friends help you. They care far more for you than you appear to realize. Let them welcome you home.” Twilight looked at the second book apprehensively. “I thought the future didn’t exist yet! Since, you know, it hasn’t happened.” “In this place we are outside the timestream of the lower realm. It is not a hard thing to insert you into the era where your friends have prepared to meet you. But do not fret, little one. The day will come when you will visit Lamplight again – but for now you have much to do in the world below.” Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but it was too late. The world around her disappeared. * * * * * This time Twilight found herself standing on a beach. Beneath her hooves was a wide expanse of soft sand. A gentle ocean of clear blue water lapped up onto the shore. Above her were a few white clouds, which gently floated through the afternoon sky. The sun shone brightly overhead. The sand on the shore gave way to a forest of palm trees. Twilight could see nothing beyond that. For all she knew she was a thousand miles from civilization. There were no ponies to be seen. “Well, this certainly isn’t Ponyville,” Twilight remarked. “Indeed not,” a familiar voice agreed. “This place is named Twilight’s Cove. On this very spot you crushed the head of Death and created a new world. To you it is, no doubt, a recent memory.” A tall, white alicorn stepped out of the forest of palms. She was regal in appearance and had an image of the sun for a cutie mark. Twilight recognized her immediately. “Celestia? Is that really you?” “It is,” the alicorn replied. She was clearly overcome with emotion. “I have waited such a long time to see you again. My heart has greatly desired this moment.” Twilight looked at her warily. “But you can’t possibly remember me! This is the first time I’ve set hoof in this world. I’m a stranger to you, right?” Celestia laughed – a long and hearty laugh. “Oh, my dear princess. You are a stranger to no one in this world. There is no pony more famous or beloved than you. Towns across the world are named after you. Countless families have named their daughters Twilight in your honor. There is a statue of you in every city. Everypony knows who you are and what you have done.” Twilight face-hoofed. “Please tell me you’re joking.” “Not at all. You are a legend! You were the first pony. You cast Death out of his home, and then you defeated him and imprisoned him forever. You fought and won the only war this world has ever seen. Did you think your actions would go unnoticed?” “They always did before,” Twilight pointed out. “I mean, until I became a princess I wasn’t famous at all. Even then I was only famous because of my royal status – not because I saved the world or anything. I’m not really the kind of pony who likes a lot of attention. Please, please tell me you made up the part about the statues.” Celestia walked over to Twilight and hugged her. “It is so good to have you back. We have been waiting a long time for you to return, and those years have not been idle. This world has changed a great deal from the one you knew – but we did not neglect your desires. Your home is ready and waiting.” “Now hold on just a minute. Are you saying that ponies actually do remember me? From, you know, before?” “It was Discord’s doing,” Celestia explained. “He is friends with the watchers and has access to the record of the old timeline. He used his magic to give us the memories of what came before. I remember the time I banished my sister Luna to the moon. I remember her return, and the way you defeated her and gave me my sister back. I even remember believing Death’s lies and becoming the Nightmare that tried to destroy the world. I am so thankful that you stopped me.” Twilight finally began to relax. “So I really am home. I haven’t been lost to time. You have no idea what a huge relief that is.” Celestia put her wing around her. “Welcome back, my dear and faithful student.” A pink blur shot across the sky, arced over the beach and landed squarely in front of Twilight. The excited pony bounced up and down with a mixture of high energy and pure joy. “I knew you could do it! I just knew you could. And here you are! I haven’t forgotten my promise to you, Twilight. I’ve spent years preparing for that party I promised. Years! And it’s going to be totally epic. I’ve got your home all decorated and ready to go. The only thing we’re missing is the guest of honor!” Twilight looked at her friend Pinkie Pie in shock. “Are you a pegasus?” “You bet I am! I’ve got wings now. Wings! And wings are amazing. Now I can make even more friends than I made last time. Flying is really the best!” Twilight looked at Celestia. “Did you, um, upgrade her or something?” Celestia laughed. “No, Twilight, your friend was born a pegasus. This world is different from the one you knew. But rest assured that your other friends are as you remember them. Their cutie marks are unchanged as well – although the journey to obtain those marks was a bit different.” “I understand. So, is everypony else hiding in the trees too?” Celestia shook her head. “They were all supposed to be waiting for you in Ponyville. But it seems that one of them simply couldn’t wait any longer.” “It’s not just me who can’t wait,” Pinkie insisted. “Everypony is going to head over here if we wait any longer!” “Then we had best not keep them waiting,” Celestia replied. “Twilight, are you ready?” The purple alicorn looked around one more time. “I just have one question before we go. Is this really the spot where I crushed Death? I mean, it looked really different back then. Which, to me, was more like an hour ago.” “So the story is true?” Pinkie asked excitedly. “You really walked right up to him and smashed his head flat? That’s fantastic! What hoof did you use? Was it the right front one?” Twilight thought a moment, and then looked at her friend. “Yes, that’s the one. But what difference does it make? Is that actually something ponies talk about?” Celestia laughed. “Believe me, Twilight, the pony race is far more interested in what you did that day than you realize. But come. Your friends are waiting, and Pinkie is quite capable of asking you questions all day.” “I can do it a lot longer than that,” Pinkie said happily. Celestia smiled. She lit up her horn, and the three ponies vanished. * * * * * By now Twilight was getting used to being teleported around by others. Discord, the watcher, Celestia – everyone seemed eager to magically transport Twilight from one place to another. In some ways it was a little bit annoying, being hauled around as if she was a bag of bits, but in another way it made her feel loved. She hadn’t been forgotten about. When the teleportation spell finished, Twilight looked at the world around her and was astonished. Before her was Ponyville, exactly as she remembered it. The town had the same buildings, the same streets, and the same crystal castle towering over it. Nothing had changed. This time Twilight was not the only pony in sight. The area around her – and the sky above – was filled with more ponies than she could count. It’s like the whole world showed up, Twilight thought in amazement. Some of the ponies she knew well, but many of them were complete strangers to her. The ponies nearest to her she recognized immediately. There, just a few feet away, were the rest of the Elements – Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie. Just as Celestia promised, they looked exactly as she remembered. Spike was there too – but Spike had changed dramatically. He was now an enormous dragon. Twilight’s family was there as well. Her mother and father were present, along with Shining Armor and Cadence. To her shock, King Sombra was standing right by the happy couple. Celestia noticed the look of horror on Twilight’s face. “In this timeline he never became evil,” she explained. “You removed the darkness from this world, so there was none to corrupt him. He has been a wise and noble steward of the Crystal Empire.” Luna nudged her sister. “I believe he is far more to you than that.” Celestia blushed, but said nothing. As her friends rushed to greet her, Twilight saw many familiar faces. There was Trixie, and Starlight Glimmer, and Moondancer. Apple Bloom was present as well, along with her parents. Greeting her friends and catching up with them was pure joy – but there was one figure she did not see. “Where’s Discord?” she finally asked, when she was able to get a word in among all the chatter. A head popped out of a rather puffy pink cloud. “Oh, nowhere in particular,” he said lazily. He dropped down out of the sky and landed in front of Twilight. “So what do you think? Not a bad job for the crown prince of chaos, eh?” “It’s beautiful,” Twilight said warmly. “Thank you all so very much. I can’t believe you did all this for me.” Rarity spoke up. “I’ll admit it wasn’t easy. There was quite a debate over what to do with your home. I thought that we should recreate your old treehouse, since you did love it so. It was so warm and inviting, and it was filled with your dear precious books.” “Yeah, but it was so small,” Rainbow Dash objected. “How is Twilight supposed to rule over all of Equestria from a tiny little tree? She can’t hold court in there!” “Do what?” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s true,” Celestia replied. “The alicorn race has been stewards and caretakers of the throne for this age, but no pony was willing to take the throne for themselves. That honor is yours and yours alone. Only you have the right to rule over Equestria.” “Now hold on a minute,” Twilight protested. “If you really do remember the past then surely you know that I was just the Princess of Friendship. I didn’t actually rule over anything! It was more of an honorary title. I went around the world and taught ponies about friendship and relationships and so forth. I was really more of a glorified therapist than an actual ruler – and a lot of friendship problems were solved by my friends, not me. I didn’t have legal jurisdiction over anypony.” “Oh, don’t be so modest,” Applejack said. “We all know what you did. Who else could possibly be more deserving? You actually died fighting to save us – and more than once! When you had every reason to turn back, you didn’t. We’re all here because of you.” Fluttershy spoke up. “I’m sure you can do it, Twilight. I promise we don’t get into a lot of trouble. It won’t be like it was before – with wars and all that unpleasantness. And we’ll all help you.” Twilight finally began to truly relax. The world was different – that was clear to see. But she had her friends and she had her future. “It’s good to be home,” she said. “You bet it is!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Now enough chit-chat. We’ve got a celebration to celebrate!”