It had been several days since Twilight Sparkle had been sent tumbling through timelines with her assistant. The aftermath, thankfully, was quite simple: Starlight would be under her watch to make up for her crimes against her fellow equine, starting by learning about the true magic of friendship under Twilight’s tutelage. The young princess was excited to have a student of her own that she could pass on the knowledge of friendship that she had learned from her time in Ponyville. Of course not all of her friends were for such an idea, as almost all of them held some grudge against the unicorn for her actions in Our Town. But with some convincing that it was much tamer than a life imprisonment and could have better hopes for the future, they relented and agreed.
Starlight was understandably worried about her punishment, but upon hearing it, she couldn’t have been more ecstatic. Being welcomed into the castle didn’t hurt much either, since she had been living in Whitetail Woods since her exile from the town she had created. Her first day had been more than hectic, having had to spend the day with all six of the Ambassadors of Harmony. From modeling a dress for Rarity, the local fashion designer, to helping the baker, Pinkie Pie, in the kitchen of her workplace, and even assisting Fluttershy, the animal caretaker, in feeding all of the many critters she watched over, both big and small.
Though it was rough, she smiled on the whole time. And Twilight couldn’t have been happier for her once all her friends had told her of the day they’d had. It was wonderful that her brand new pupil was already off to such a start. It led for plenty of possibility for her future.
Yet despite all that, Twilight simply couldn’t sleep. For the past few nights, she’d kept revisiting that scene she had seen from their travel back to the present she knew. It wasn’t that it was horrible, thank Celestia, but it just kept nagging at her. A vision unlike any she had ever seen before. And one that left greater questions for may lie ahead.
And so it was because of these thoughts that the young Princess of Friendship lay awake in her four poster bed, not even able to toss and turn as her mind kept on turning. She had attempted to look into what she had seen, but she had no starting point, no place to begin her search to find out what could lead to such a vision.
“What was it?” she whispered to herself, gazing up at the top her bed covers. “What could lead to such an event? Unknown creatures, new heroes, strange stars? What could it all mean?”
Twilight repeated these questions to herself time after time as she lay there, eventually questioning herself into a dreamless sleep. What seemed like only moments later, the light of her former teacher’s, Princess Celestia, sun worked its way into her bedroom, shining through her drapes. With a small groan, she crawled out of bed and made herself decent as she descended down into the dining area of the castle.
Once there, she saw her little assistant busy at setting the table for three. Meaning to say ‘hi’, Twilight yawned as she moved to one of the chairs of the table.
“Good morning, Twilight!” Spike greeted with a wave. “Breakfast is almost ready. I was just about to go get you and Starlight.”
“No need,” said unicorn yawned as she walked in as well. “‘Mm already up.” She took a whiff of the scent that rolled out of the kitchen as she sat a couple seats down from Twilight at the rounded table. “Oh, that smells good.”
“Thanks! It’s my special banana nut muffins. They should be ready in just a few minutes,” he replied with a fair amount of pride.
“Can’t wait,” she said with a yawn.
“Morning, Starlight,” Twilight groggily greeted, rubbing a little dust from her eyes. “Seems like you’re still tired.”
“Yeah, it’s nothing though. Just a little insomnia is all.”
Twilight yawned again, covering her mouth with her hoof. “I’ll be honest, I haven’t been sleeping too well myself. I keep thinking about our time loop.”
Starlight winced, now feeling nothing but shame for the incident, plus maybe a little something more. “Look, I know just saying I’m sorry won’t fix every-”
“No, no, not what you did,” Twilight interrupted, waving her hooves to wave off the very thought. “I know you’re sorry about it, but it’s not your involvement that has me restless. It was when we finally came back to this present here. On the way, I… saw something. I’m not sure what, but I think it was some kind of a vision.”
“A vision?” she asked, her eyes widening.
“Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but-”
“I saw one too!” Starlight suddenly interrupted.
“Wait, what?!” Twilight nearly shrieked. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I thought it was crazy!”
“Well so did I and I already seemed crazy enough as it was! Just suddenly telling you I was having visions of the future? I was afraid you’d put me up in some mental house.”
Twilight winced at the insinuations. “Starlight, I’d never do that to anypony. Such a thing would be a last resort at best. And no, I don’t think you’re crazy, since I had a vision as well.”
“You guys too?” Spike casually asked as he walked back in with a plate of steaming muffins. “I thought I was the only one. It was really weird that it just came so out of the blue.” Placing the tray on the table, he looked up see both mares staring at him. “What?”
“You had a vision, Spike?” Twilight asked with a hint of worry and wonder. “When we finally ended the time loop?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think much of it,” Spike replied with a shrug. “It was really weird that it just came to me. Though it didn’t seem important.”
“‘Didn’t seem important’?! How could seeing strange creatures becoming Equestria’s heroes and the changing stars not seem important?!”
“Wait what?” Starlight and Spike both asked.
“That’s not what I saw,” Starlight said with a shake of her head.
“Me either, Twi.”
“Wait, you didn’t?” She looked between the two as they shook their heads. “Then what did you see?”
“I just saw life as normal,” Spike replied with a shrug. As they spoke, he passed muffins to the two, figuring that if Twilight went on a rant, she’d at least need something in her belly. “Just typical Ponyville life moving on as it always should.”
“Starlight?”
The unicorn shook her head again. “Didn’t see that either. What I saw was… horrible.” A shiver went down her spine as she recounted the vision. “I saw destruction and darkness, spreading over the entire world. Everything was black, including the night sky. It was if everything had been painted over with a black brush. The only other thing I saw were these strange little creatures, kind of like imps, running everywhere, little beady eyes that stood out in the dark. It was almost like they were made out of the stuff.”
Twilight and Spike both shivered. “That’s haunting,” she replied.
Starlight nodded. “Yeah. It gave me nightmares that night. It’s been getting better, but it still nags at the back of my mind when I lay down to sleep.”
Silence fell over the three as they all began to bite into their muffins. A quick compliment from Starlight over the taste was enough to lift the spirits slightly, yet Twilight remained focused despite her cheeks bulging with food.
‘Three visions. Three futures. And none of them match in anyway. What was the time loop trying to tell us? Were they just passing glances at possibilities we had yet to see? Or… could it be they are the possibilities that still lie await?’
A small groan escaped Roxas’ lips as he slowly returned to the waking world. His eyes opened just a bit before snapping shut from the sudden influx of light. Gently, he eased his eyelids open and turned his head to look around. From he could tell, the area was grassy with a few trees decorating the area as a brilliant sunlight shone down upon him.
He questioned his new surroundings, swearing that he had been in darkness, not meadow. And he had been with…
“Naminé!” he shouted in a hushed tone as he sat up in an instant. Adrenaline started coursing through his veins as he look around rapidly, looking for his companion. Thankfully, he spotted her only a few feet from, laying curled up on the soft grass.
Letting out a breath of relief, Roxas crawled over to Naminé and gently shook her shoulder. “Naminé? Naminé, wake up.”
Roxas took the moment to look her over for any wounds. She looked rather peaceful, her chest rising and falling. After a few more shakes, she groaned, cracking an eye open.
“Roxas?” She asked softly, looking up at him.
He sighed as he sat back on his rear, looking up at the clear blue sky. “Thank goodness. We’re both okay, but I have no clue where we are.”
Naminé sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. “How did we get here?”
“Had to have been that bubble,” he replied, getting to his feet. With a soft smile, he held out his hand to her. “But don’t worry, as long as we’re together, there’s nothing that can get the jump on us.”
She took his hand, pulling herself to her feet. She brushed her dress off, adjusting it to her satisfaction. “Do we explore?” Part of her hoped he would say yes, her short life had been full of nothing but cages.
Roxas looked around a little, not seeing much more than grass and trees. He shrugged a little before replying, “We might as well. Standing around here isn’t going to do us much good.”
“I wish I had my sketchbook with me,” she lamented, looking at the flowers around them. “Come on Roxas, we can't just stay here all day.” She took his hand, tugging his along in a random direction.
Roxas stuttered as he was pulled along through the meadow. “H-hey, I know you’re excited, but still!” he laughed as they ran along.
“Don’t tell me you're afraid,” she teased, grinning at him.
He smirked as he started picking up his pace. “Me? I’m not afraid of anything!” The two kept pace as they kept running, reaching the crest of a hill. But what they saw caused them to stop and stare out. “A town?”
Indeed, down below there was a quaint little town. The buildings were of varying purples, blues, and pinks, thatched roofs everywhere, and most shockingly were the creatures roaming about. Everywhere they looked, little pony-like creatures of all shapes and colors walked about the little town, going about their days.
“I don't think I know this world.” Naminé blinked, watching a pair of the creatures trot by.
“Which means we should be careful. We don’t have any magic here to blend in like Sora does. Nor do we know how they’ll react to us; they could get violent.”
“I think we should ask one.” Naminé pulled away, stopping a trio of smaller creatures. She knelt down, giving a smile. “My name's Naminé. My friend and I are a little lost, do you think can tell us where we are?”
“Naminé, what are you doing?” Roxas hissed, trying to hide back where they were while keeping an eye on her.
The three little fillies stared up at Naminé in awe, three sets of eyes wide at her. “Woah,” the little yellow pony with red hair for a mane and tail and a pink bow in said mane. “What are ya?”
“Are you from the Everfree forest?” squeaked the little, light grey pony with pink and purple swirled mane and tail that were perfectly maintained. She even had a horn on her head, making her stand out obviously from the group.
“Don’t be stupid!” retorted the little orange pony with wings. Her purple mane and tail were a complete mess, looking as if they’d gone through a wind storm. “She came from the Whitetail Meadow; how could she be from the Everfree?”
“Don’t call me stupid! It was a legitimate question!”
“Don’t use words I don’t understand!”
“Girls!” the normal pony shouted at them. “Let’s jus’ let ‘er speak! She obviously can!”
Naminé didn't seem bothered by their bickering. “We’re from far away. We’re just trying to find our way back.” She gave another smile. “Do you know where we are?”
“Yer in Ponyville!” the normal pony responded. “Where’re ya from? An’ why ya sayin’ ‘we’? Are there more o’ ya?”
“I'm from Castle Oblivion,” Naminé explained, looking back towards Roxas. “My friend is being a little shy.” She waved him over, coaxing him with another smile.
Roxas stared at her in disbelief before scratching at his head with both hands, trying not to get too overly upset. He took a deep breath before stepping out of the brush. “Hey there,” he greeted with a small wave, not sounding too happy about meeting these creatures.
“He’s tall!” the winged one said, walking over to look at the nobody who towered over her. “So tall.”
“Why’s his hair all spiky like that?” the horned one asked, tilting her head rather cutely.
“What’s wrong with my hair?” Roxas asked back, sounding defensive.
“Nothing, I just wanna know why it’s spiky,” she huffed in return.
“It just is,” he replied rather grumpily.
Naminé giggled at the exchange. “This is my friend Roxas.” She kneeled down, getting to eye level with the creatures. “Can you tell us your names?”
“Ah’m Apple Bloom!” The yellow one explained.
“I'm Sweetie Belle!” The horned one introduced, pressing against Apple Bloom’s left side.
“I'm Scootaloo!” the winged one said, pressing into Apple Bloom’s other side.
“And we’re, the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” they shouted, their voices blending together into a single, shrill shout.
Roxas immediately covered his ears, the screech ringing deep in his eardrums despite his best efforts. Slowly he peeled his hands away, tapping his ear afterwards to make sure it was still working. “You might wanna work on that slogan. You’re liable to make someone bleed doing that.”
“We get that a lot,” Sweetie admitted, giving a sheepish smile.
“Then you may want to take that advice,” he groaned, tapping his other ear to restart the hearing.
“So what are you two?” Scootaloo asked, looking between them. “Are you some kind of hairless diamond dogs?”
“Or mutated minotaurs?” Apple Bloom piped in.
“Maybe they’re some unknown beings from a far away land with amazing powers that could wipe us out in seconds if we anger them!” Sweetie threw in… leading to all of them staring at her. “What?”
“Ah think ya’ve been readin’ too much o’ Spike’s comic books, Bell,” Bloom so elegantly put it.
“Have not!” Sweetie defended with a blush.
“Roxas and I are Nobodies.” Naminé stood up, brushing the front of her dress off. “What are you?”
“We’re ponies duh,” Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “What do we look like, horses?”
“Well, yes,” Roxas replied with a blunt smirk.
“Hey!” Scootaloo rebuked, but Bloom happened to interrupt her before things escalated any further.
“How can y’all be nobodies?” the filly asked. “Ya certainly look like somebodies ta me.”
Naminé exchanged glances with Roxas, shaking her head. “That's a rather complicated answer.” These were obviously children, she doubted they'd understand the concept.
“What’s so complicated about it?” Sweetie asked with a small squeak in her voice.
“Yeah, it can’t be that hard to tell us what you are. Don’t need to be so cryptic about it,” Scootaloo added in.
Naminé frowned, trying to think of a way to explain it to a child. She gazed at Roxas, as if to plead for his help. The young man let out a soft sigh, moving his hand to scratch at a sudden itch on the back of his head. “Well… I suppose the best way to put it is that we’re missing pieces of ourselves. I know that probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it’s the basic gist of it.”
Scootaloo tilted her head at the pair, giving them an incredulous look. “‘Missing a part of yourselves’? How does that work?”
“Yeah,” Sweetie interjected, “you both look completely fine. Or, I think so… huh, how can we even tell?”
“Whatcha mean?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Well, how do we know they’re completely whole? We’ve never seen… whatever they are before so how do we know this what they normally look like?”
The other two fillies blinked at Sweetie’s proposal before looking between each other dumbfoundedly. “Huh, never thought o’ that.”
“Hey, I know! Who’s the best pony to go to when you have a knowing problem?” Scootaloo said, looking at her fellow crusaders. Apple Bloom and Sweetie stood there for a small moment before the gasped and smiles beamed on their faces.
“Princess Twilight!!” they nearly screeched, causing Naminé and Roxas to put their hands over their ears.
“Who’s Princess Twilight?” Namine asked, carefully removing her hands.
Sweetie looked up at her with a bright grin, which for an odd reason gave Roxas a sense of dread. “She’s a good friend of ours and knows everything about everything!”
“That’s right,” Scootaloo added with a happy buzz of her wings. “There’s not a single thing we’ve asked her about that she didn’t know. She’ll definitely be able to help us learn about you two!”
Roxas scratched his cheek with a finger for a moment, the dread growing ever more. “Um, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea-”
“Come on!” Apple Bloom shouted at them, jumping behind Roxas and pushing him. He was practically thrown off his feet from how strong the little filly was, unknowing beginning to walk in the direction she was forcing him to, otherwise he’d end up being thrown of his own feet. “Naminé, a little help here?!”
Scootaloo meanwhile was pushing her head against the back of Naminé’s leg, trying to get her to follow. “Come on, her castle isn’t too far from here anyway.”
“Don’t worry about the princess thing, though,” Sweetie dismissed. “She’s not into all that royalty and privilege junk; she’s just like any other pony.”
Naminé frowned, looking down at Scootaloo. “If you think she can help.” She started to walk, using the time to simply enjoy the outdoors. The sun felt quite nice.
Roxas, however, was not enjoying his trip, grumbling to himself as he was “guided” by a pony that wasn’t even a quarter of his size. ‘Man, am I glad no one is here to see this. Axel would never let me live it down if he knew.’ With his displeasure thoroughly internalized, his quick tour of the town continued.
Twilight sighed as she closed another book, disappointed that she was no closer to solving her conundrum than when she started. She levitated the book back to its spot on the shelf as her mind continued running around in circles trying to understand her vision as well as the others’. A glance at the remaining pile of books she had pulled out didn’t make her as eager as she would have liked to continue this research. She had no real leads, nothing to look back on, and not even a true sense that what she saw was what she saw.
And it irritated the young princess to know end.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, using the trick to calm herself like her former foalsitter and sister-in-law had taught her. It didn’t make the situation better but it did help to settle herself a bit to focus. Steeling herself once again, she grabbed the next book and opened it up to the index, hoping to have a quick clue pop out to her.
As her skimming continued, a loud gong sounded through the castle. For the first few months of her life in the crystal castle, the sound had scared her out of her wits each time. But now, she’d become quite adjusted to the unnaturally loud doorbell. Her ears twitched as she heard the pattering of Spike’s claws as he rushed to answer the door; he more often than not liked to be the one to greet any visitors. It brought a smile to her face as she briefly thought of her assistant and how helpful he could truly be.
Speaking of said assistant, his voice echoed out through the castle, “Twilight? I think you’ll want to come down here!”
“Hm?” Twilight hummed to herself, blinking as she looked to the door. “Now why would Spike need me at the door?” She mentally and physically shrugged before marking her place in her book and closing it up. “It’s probably nothing too terrible. It’s only Ponyville after all.” Her horn lit up brightly with magic before her form popped out existence before reappearing at the front door in a bright flash of magenta magic. When Twilight reopened her eyes, she was surprised to see Spike staring out the door with wide eyes. “Uh, Spike? What’s wrong?”
Spike’s claw slowly lifted as he stuttered, “Th-th-th-th-th-the-the-the-”
Twilight’s brow quirked up in confusion before she turned her head. At first she didn’t understand her assistant’s bewilderment as she saw her friend’s three little sisters, well more like apprentice in Scootaloo’s case. However, there was something odd immediately behind them. It looked… two pairs of… Twilight’s eyes trailed upwards as they slowly started to match Spike’s until she was looking full on at two creatures she’d never laid eyes upon… in the real world that was.
One of them lifted a hand of all things and waved at her before speaking. “Hey there. How’s it going?”