//------------------------------// // It's Not Quite Time Travel... // Story: Nightmane // by The Atlantean //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle shifted in her seat. The three had been there for the better part of five hours while Grandpa Starling told his story. He noticed and raised an eyebrow. “It’s a little long, isn’t it? I should’ve warned you, Twilight.” “It’s just dinnertime. I’m sorry for bothering you. I just want to keep listening, but time says otherwise.” “Constell, could you get us some food? I’m sure your mother wouldn’t mind you staying in the library for the next week.” “Yes, Grandpa.” Constellation Sparrowbolt stood up and walked into the library kitchen. She gathered some dinner, just a simple hay meal, but none of the three really cared. She brought it back to the low table where Grandpa Starling and Twilight sat, chatting about the reality behind the tale. “You see, Princess, all ten of those original thestral families I mentioned still exist. We here are branched from the Nightmanes, as I’ve said before. Colonel Moonshine Silvercrest, who lead the Atlantean Second Coastal Regiment for years and who mentored Colonel Dawn, was in fact descended from the Silvercrest thestral family. The Goldwings run Applewood down in Las Pegasus. I’ve even met some Dreamwalkers down in Fillydelphia.” “I remember seeing my family tree once. There was a Sparkle a thousand years ago, but he was almost rubbed out. Why would somepony do that?” “It’d have to be about your family’s relation to this Sparkle. Do you know what his first name is?” Twilight thought for a second. “Candlelight.” “I see.” Grandpa Starling dropped his gaze for a mere second, but Twilight caught it and raised her own eyebrow. He continued: “Candlelight Sparkle was Celestia’s Captain of the Guard when Nightmare Moon was banished. He’s known among thestrals for saving the Sparklelight family name by marrying into them, at great personal cost. He was shamed by his family and shunned by his friends. It was a rough time for all ponies. The reason for his name not being completely removed from your family tree would be that at some point, he was forgiven.” “So, what you’re saying is that one of my ancestors married a thestral?” “That’s not what I’m saying at all.” Grandpa Starling signaled Constellation to get a book. Her eyes followed his hoof movements closely. When he finished, she nodded and walked into the reference section. “What did you tell her to get?” Twilight asked as she watched the young thestral. He smiled a warm smile. “I asked Constell to bring us a couple reference books.” “What kind of reference books?” “Family trees. We have an extensive collection here. Our lineage section even includes the family of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the information gathered for the last seven generations. Princess Mi Amoré Cadenza’s lineage has been traced as well, and when you became Princess, we began tracing yours. For reference purposes, of course.” “So mine’s not done.” “I myself and Constell have done the majority of the work regarding your family, Twilight. I can say with certainty that your ancestors have been traced back as far as fifteen hundred years. If Candlelight Sparkle is in there, we’ll see it.” Constellation Sparrowbolt came back with three family tree books: Nightmane, Sparkle, and Sparklelight. Grandpa Starling opened the Sparklelight one when she gave it to him, scrolling through the hundreds of names listed. Twilight opened her own, flipping to the pages for a millennium ago. When she found Candlelight Sparkle’s name, she turned it so Starling could see. He transferred his gaze between the two books repeatedly. After a minute, a grin broke out. “Princess, we are indeed talking about the very same Captain of the Guard Candlelight Sparkle.” She sighed with relief. Then, after a second, it clicked. “Wait. I’m related to one of the ten main thestral families by ancestry?” “If barely. You don’t have a drop of thestral blood in you, Twilight. But the modern Sparklelight family - I can find some of them if you want - is descended partly from a normal pony.” “Huh.” Twilight turned her book back to face her. When doing so, she felt a passive spell cast on it. She activated it, causing a mirage of Candlelight Sparkle to appear before her. He had all the same characteristics Starling had said he had, even the ancient silver Guard armor. “I didn’t know he was a Unicorn.” Starling looked up. “I forgot to mention that.” He touched the Nightmane book, whispering something inaudible. It sparked and a second mirage materialized, this one of a young thestral. She had a starry-night mane, tail, and coat, along with sapphire-blue eyes. Her bat-wings were darker than pitch black. Twilight immediately recognized the image based on Starling’s tale. “Constellation Nightmane.” “Good. you can recognize her.” Starling sighed. “I wish I could tell you the rest of the story, but my memory is faded and fuzzy. I should’ve told-” he coughed violently- “you about the second way to learn.” He then flopped back onto his chair, eyes closed and muscles limp. “Starling, are you alright?” Twilight asked. Constellation Sparrowbolt was at her grandfather’s side in an instant. “Don’t worry, Princess. We knew this would happen soon.” “What do you mean?” The young thestral slumped her shoulders as she felt the old stallion’s neck. “Grandpa’s been sick for years. The doctors finally said it was officially terminal three months ago, but we knew it was well before then.” “What kind of sickness?” “I don’t know. All I know about it is that it runs in the family. We call it ‘bat killer’ in our family. It was a small price to pay for survival, at least that’s what we think. How it works is simple: when one of us reaches a certain age, it begins to override the immune system, and, over the next thirty years or so, it saps the body’s ability to fight back. Finally, when the time is right, it strikes the brain and completely disrupts all neurological connections. The last thing an infected individual does is a hard cough.” She felt a pulse. “False alarm. He'll be fine, just give him a day.” Twilight raised her eyebrows. “He said something about another way to learn what happened.” “Yes. There is. He was developing a special headset that would allow the user to see the past without time travel. Last I heard, it was close.” “May I see this headset?”   ------------------------------   Twilight looked around her in awe. She now stood in a laboratory Doctor Hooves would be jealous of. The entire place smelled of dust and stale air. Machinations, doohickeys, thingamabobs, and whatchamacallits littered the floor. Different-sized contraptions hung from the wall. Even a replica of her mirror portal sat in the corner. It immediately drew her attention. Even in the dim light, she’d recognize that shape anywhere. She walked to it and hit a button. The replica portal lit up. The mirror shimmered and swirled. Then it stopped. The purple ended its spiral and the mirror returned to normal.      “Why doesn't it work?”      “I don't know. It's probably a wire or magic transfer unit.”      “Okay.” Twilight moved on, finally reaching a cushioned thingy-covered snoopie cap with earholes resting on a bulbous wooden stand. Constell picked it up and gave it to Twilight. “This is it.”      Twilight put it on. “Cozy.” Constell hit a button and it lit up. Lights flashed and a humming sound was heard. Then it shut off.      “Silly me. I forgot to plug it in.” Constell fixed the issue and tried again. This time, it worked. Twilight’s vision blurred with white that closed in on the center, finally pushing out the rest of her senses with a ringing and tingling. The ringing drowned out her hearing…        Twilight opened her eyes. She glanced around, gazing at the nighttime glow Canterlot gave off. Even a thousand years before her time, she could feel the warmth its lights gave off. The cap was making an excellent substitute for time travel, even replicating the very time itself.      Then, a pony went right through her. She didn't feel a thing. Twilight smiled. Looking up, she saw the Mare in the Moon. The Everfree Castle was still smoldering with magic to the east as well. Only time would end this chaos, she knew, but she still wanted to do something. She began her long walk to the Midnight District. Hopefully, she still knew her way around.   ---------------------------------        Constellation Nightmane’s mother exploded with laughter. “Are you seriously going to keep us in our own district, by force if necessary? That's a good one!”      “Mrs. Nightmane, this is by the Princess’ orders. We cannot change her laws, only enforce them,” the guard politely replied. “You must understand this.”      “Well, if you insist, I suppose I can stay here. But I do request to leave to the Crystal mines tomorrow.”      “The mines have been off-limits for years, ma'am.”      “I received special permission from Princess Celestia herself to go there every ten years.” Mrs. Nightmane pulled a card out of the saddlebag she always carried around with her. “As you can see, it's genuine.”      “Why do you go down there? We need to know so you may be escorted appropriately.”      “The crystal herbs. I gather their blooms to make a healing paste.”      “How far below the surface?”      “Seven hours, forty-five minutes, one way.”      “That's too far.”      “According to this card, it's not.”      “You will need to speak to the Princess tomorrow.”      “Harmony damn it! I cannot wait another ten years before going down there again! The plants bloom tomorrow, and only tomorrow for the next decade! If you say I must speak with Princess Celestia, it'd better be in the next hour and a half!” she yelled. A bit quieter, but still as angry: “Get moving.” She slammed the door in their faces.      Nearby, Dusky Goldwings Sr. was listening closely. He grinned. Now he knew where to go and when to go there to find the plants, but for now, other important things awaited his attention.   ------------------------------        Celestia sipped more coffee. Apparently, some stubborn thestral needed to see her. She was due to arrive in the next minute.      On cue, she walked through the opening doors, flanked by two guards. “Princess.” She bowed her head in respect.      “I remember you. Mrs. Nightmane, wife of Night Guard Nightmane. What brings you here?”      “Well, it turns out that this card you gave me about thirty years ago doesn't allow me to get past your guards and go into the mines.”      “Is this about the crystal plants?”      “Yes.”      “Then go. You know the way. You shouldn't need guards because nopony else is allowed in the mines.”      “Thank you, Princess.” Mrs. Nightmane turned and walked triumphantly out of the throne room to be escorted back home.   ----------------------------      Mrs. Nightmane looked down into the darkness below her. This was it. She had waited patiently for so long to do this. Fastening her rope to a secure rock, she began her descent into the Canterlot Mines.      She slowed her trot to a walk after the first hour. Alternating like that allowed her to rest periodically while still reaching her destination quickly. It took her the seven hours just to make it to the depth she wanted and the other forty-five minutes to reach the actual area the plants grew in.      She shivered. Something was definitely not right. Picking a bloom, she brought it to eye level. It was brighter than the previous years, finally ripe after the last several times. She placed it in her saddlebag. Moving on, the next few would ripen by next trip. But as she picked more and more truly ripe blooms, she couldn't help but feel apprehension. Something was wrong, but she couldn't pinpoint it.      She made it to the last cavernous section. Then she saw why her sixth sense had been tingling. She immediately assumed a defensive stance. “Nightbreaker,” she growled. “I should've known.”      The corrupted dreamwalking alicorn’s image flickered. She had a coat devoid of all light and a mane and tail whiter than Celestia. Her eyes were black holes that saw every move, every thought that crossed your mind. A twinkle in those eyes marked her pupils. She smelled strangely of lavender to the normal pony, but in reality it was terror. Fear and terror like the aura around her. Her pricking black ears had sunset-orange inner areas, and they heard everything just like the eyes saw everything.      “Mrs. Twilight White Nightmane. Daughter of Daydream, daughter of of Nebula, daughter of Spellcaster, son of Midnight, daughter of Krypton Nightmane, the longest-lived thestral to exist. My personal enemy's favorite guard family.” Even her slightly raspy, slightly robotic voice inspired fear.      “What have you done to Princess Luna?” Twilight Nightmane was shaking on the spot.      “Ah, straight to the point. Just like Krypton, but with words and not swords.”      “I can defend myself.” Twilight Nightmane brandished a steel short sword with a beautifully carved silverwood hilt, made from the silverwood trees found only in the Equestria-Yakyakistan mountain pass. Silverwood had many magical properties, one of them allowing a sword to cut through both dreams and reality if it made up the hilt.      “Please, Twilight. I'm only here to talk.”      “Then what happened to the Princess of the Night?” the thestral demanded.      “Apart from not finding all but a piece of my essence, I have done nothing. Once I do find it, however, I will once again be one and I will destroy all of your sweet dreams. I will conquer the waking world, and the nightmare will last forever!” Nightbreaker cackled. Her evil laugh sounded much like the one Nightmane had dreamed of the night before, only without Luna’s softness.      She realized the problem. “You infused your essense into Princess Luna and tried to take control. But before you could add the final piece, she acted and was subsequently beaten by her sister. And when she returns, if she does, you will completely control her. You will use her body as a vessel to conquer the waking world and then retreat to the Inter-Dream, where you will rule unthreatened and unopposed.”      “Very perceptive, Twilight.” She paused for a second before continuing. “I'd use you as well, but your plants seem to block my attempts. But there is a presence here… an alicorn.”      “Princess Celestia,” the thestral said bluntly.      “No. I do not recognize this presence, but she is here. She is also not here, like only her thoughts exist. But based on what I feel, she is in fact a Sparkle.” Nightbreaker turned her gaze to where the presence was felt.        Twilight Sparkle gasped. The thing - no, Nightbreaker - knew she was there. Knew who she was. That shouldn't happen. She was still in her own time, wearing a nerdy-looking snoopie cap. She was in the Manehattan library's upper floor laboratory. Just the mere fact that she was discovered had her trembling with fear. But she couldn't move, couldn't run. The spirit's icy glare glued her to the spot.      A quiet thought entered her mind: Twilight, take the cap off. Then, louder and more insistent: Twilight, take the cap off now!      With trembling hooves, she reached for the snoopie cap and pulled it off. White encompassed her vision…       Twilight Sparkle snapped awake screaming. Constell was next to her instantly, trying to calm her down. “Shhhh! You're safe. Nopony is trying to do anything to you.”      Twilight breathed deeply. “She could sense me. Hear my thoughts. She knew I was there.”      “Who?”      “Nightbreaker.”