Twilight’s eyes snapped open, a small gasp escaping her as air filled her lungs. Quickly, she looked around to take in her surroundings and was confused by what she was seeing. Purple and blue crystal made up the walls, lined and trimmed with gold and ornate decorations. Tapestries and banners depicting her cutie mark hung from the tall ceilings, which were seemingly made of green, translucent glass that allowed sunlight from outside to shine in.
A chill ran down Twilight’s spine when she took a step forward, seeing her forehoof and realizing it was flickering in and out of reality. With a small frown on her face, Twilight trotted down the hall, listening for anything. There were no sounds whatsoever, save for her breathing and the clip-clop of her hooves echoing upon the smooth crystal floor.
“...I wish I could, Twilight. Just be strong, okay? For our sake.”
Twilight paused upon hearing those words. That… that was her voice! Her voice was speaking from behind the door to her immediate left.
“I’m sorry… I’m truly, truly sorry. I’m out of time, Twilight… all of it is yours now. Use it wisely.”
The sound of a spell ending came from behind the door. Twilight put her ear to it and listened in.
“So… that’s it, huh?” Another mare’s voice asked solemnly. “Now we just… get to wait for everything to stabilize and hope that that was enough?”
“I’m afraid so…” Twilight’s voice replied, also sounding tired, solemn and resigned.
With a frown, Twilight gently pushed the door open. Her eyes went wide and her jaw went slack with shock at what she saw. She saw Starlight, that mare from the flashes, looking down at the ground with her eyes closed and her ears folded back against her head. In front of her stood Twilight, except there were two regal wings tucked at her sides. The alicorn looked up and gasped upon seeing Twilight standing there,a hoof reaching up to her chest. Starlight looked, too, and went rigid.
“What the?! Twilight, what’s happening?!” She asked nervously. The alicorn Twilight’s own look of surprise gradually gave way to one of confusion, then curiosity, then relief.
“...I think I understand.” she said simply, trotting forward until she was face to face with her unwinged counterpart.
“You… you’re me.” Twilight whispered in awe.
“Yes.” the alicorn replied with a small nod.
“You… you were just talking to me when I was a filly, weren’t you?”
The alicorn nodded again.
“What’s happening? What did you mean about, well, everything you said back then? What do you know about what’s been happening to me and Rainbow-”
A lavender hoof lifted up into the air, causing Twilight to go silent while her alicorn self closed her eyes. “...I don’t have time to tell you, Twilight,” She said simply before glancing down the hall behind Twilight. “But, since you’re here, I think it’s safe to say that you used my time wisely…”
Twilight turned to look and gasped in alarm. The hallway was crumbling away into dust, an endless white void visible beyond with a prismatic ribbon of magic reaching through it.
“You kept your friends close?”
“Huh?” Twilight looked back to her alicorn self, who in term touched a hoof to Twilight’s chest.
“I told you to keep your friends close. Did you?”
“I… I think so, yes.” Twilight uttered, unsure. The alicorn glanced to the top of Twilight’s head and smiled, tears coming to her eyes.
“You found the Elements of Harmony? Became connected to them?”
“Yes.”
The alicorn barely stifled a sob and ran a foreleg over her eyes, tears spilling out freely.
“Twilight?!’ Starlight called out again from the room. The alicorn shook her head.
“It’s okay, Starlight. She did good…” she said before resting all four of her hooves on the ground and spreading her wings. “I wish I could ask you all about it, but… well…” the crystal floor beneath her dissolved into dust that swirled and vanished into the void. “...I’ll just have to settle with the fact that, in a way, I already know…”
“What are you talking about? What’s happening?!” Twilight asked, looking down and then back up to the alicorn Twilight.
The alicorn sighed, smiled and closed her eyes. Then, the alicorn, too, began to dissolve, though not into dust. Her body began to become transparent, wisps of it drifting past her to touch Twilight. As more and more of the alicorn faded away, Twilight’s flickering decreased more and more. The alicorn opened her eyes with a weak smile. “Celestia will know… and it’s time she told you.”
The last of the alicorn faded away, the last remaining wisps flowing into Twilight. The void shuddered…
And Twilight knew no more.
Gradually, the six ponies began to awaken, their heads throbbing and their eyes tired. As they came to, none of them dared to speak, all of them too rattled by what they had just seen. For almost a minute, it was silent before, at last, Fluttershy looked to her friends and sat up slightly. “Oh, um, girls… uh, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but, we might be wearing jewelery we didn't have before.”
Indeed, around the neck of each of the ponies present was a golden and ornate necklace with a gem embedded in the center that resembled each one’s cutie mark. The gem matched the color of their wearer’s eyes. The sole exception was Twilight, who wore a crown upon her head instead of a necklace. They all took a moment to look, each one vocalizing some manner of approval for their newly acquired accessories.
“Gee, Twilight,” Applejack started gently, looking over at the mare in question. “Ah thought you were just spewin’ nonsense, but, now ah think you’re right. We do represent these here elements, don’t we?”
“...Looks that way.” Twilight said with a nod before her smile vanished. She bit her lip and then spoke again. “Did… did any of the rest of you see something… odd… while you were out?”
“Well, ah saw, uh, myself, by the look of it. And when she saw me, she just smiled and… disappeared, flowin’ into me or somethin.’” Applejack nodded, her own voice growing uneasy as she looked down at the element around her neck.
“Yeah, me too!” Rainbow said, looking at her hooves. “It… it felt weird. Like, really weird…”
“Oh, you were all made sad by your other self?” Pinkie asked in disbelief before smiling widely. “My double and I just had some cake!”
Rarity rolled her eyes before fidgeting uneasily. “Er, quite. I, too, saw myself and… my little sister, Sweetie Belle. She was… taller. And she had her cutie mark!”
“...What does it mean?” Twilight muttered to herself, rubbing one foreleg with a hoof absently.
A new voice disturbed their ruminations. “Perhaps I can explain…” Everypony turned to where the voice came from. They didn’t see anypony yet, but gradually the sun began to appear above the horizon, casting rays of overdue light and warmth across Equestria. With a small flash of light, Princess Celestia, looking none the worse for wear, appeared before them, the sun at her back casting her in the most regal and divine glow Twilight had ever seen. Celestia smiled softly. “After all, answers for you all are long overdue.”
“MOM!” Rainbow shouted in relief, rocketing from her place on the floor and wrapping Celestia in a powerful hug. The force of the impact was enough to send Celestia falling onto her backside with an ‘oof.’ Twilight, too, cantered forward and joined the two in their embrace. Everypony else had already dropped into deep bows.
Celestia tittered softly. “That is the first time you have called me that to my face, Rainbow Dash…”
“Just shut up and let me hug you right now, okay?” Rainbow said back, squeezing Celestia even tighter.
Celestia didn’t argue, instead returning the embrace the two mares were giving her. Eventually, though, she gently nudged them off and stood. “I am so proud of you two. I knew you could do it.”
“But you told me that it was just an old pony tail,” Twilight said with a quizzical frown.
Celestia giggled. “No, Twilight, I told you that you needed more friends. For as much time as you spent with my daughter, here, you spent equally as much time, if not more, with your nose in a book.” she then looked to the rest of the mares in the room. “I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon’s return, Twilight. I’ve known for years, but I’ve also known that it was no longer within my power to stop her. That power now lies with you. But you could not unleash it until you let true friendship fill your heart.”
“Hey!” Rainbow complained. “She and I are best friends!”
“Yes, I know,” Celestia smiled softly. “But let’s not forget that Twilight only agreed to spend time with you - at the beginning, at least- because I asked her too. Hardly a natural way to make friends.”
Rainbow shot Twilight a small frown but then shrugged. “Fair enough.”
“Now, there is one more matter I must see to before we return to Ponyville…” Celestia said before stepping past the six mares, her eyes lingering on the smoking remains of Nightmare Moon’s armor. In the center of the shrapnel was a small alicorn mare, perhaps as tall as Rainbow Dash. She was a soft blue color with a bright blue mane and tail. Upon her flank was a black pattern of spots and a crescent moon for a cutie mark. The alicorn looked up and gasped in fear when she saw Celestia approach. “Princess Luna…”
“Luna…?” Rainbow whispered before trotting forward to stand next to Celestia, looking at the alicorn before her curiously.
“It has been a thousand years since I saw you like this… since I saw you as my little sister. It’s time we put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, after all… and besides all that.” Celestia rested a hoof on Rainbow’s back. “...I want you to meet my daughter, your niece… Rainbow Dash.”
Luna locked eyes with Rainbow Dash and instantly shied away, her eyes trembling with fear and swiftly mounting guilt. “I… I’m…”
“Aunt Luna… It’s a joy to finally meet you,” Rainbow said simply before reaching out with her forehooves and pulling the alicorn into a hug. Luna squaked in shock, going rigid. Rainbow made sure her ear was next to Luna’s ear before she spoke up again. “Don’t sweat any of what just happened, alright? Mom’s made it pretty clear that you’re a good pony, and that Nightmare Moon is not who you really are. Okay?” she whispered.
Luna slowly relaxed, nodded, and returned the hug before looking up at Celestia. “I… I’m so sorry, big sister. I missed you…”
Celestia smiled, tears coming to her eyes before she set herself down by the two, joining them in their embrace.
At last, after a thousand years of waiting…
Her family was finally together.
“So, lemme get this straight,” Applejack began, her muzzle scrunching up as she tried to keep all of the new information straight in her head. “Our entire world is different than it should be?”
The six newly minted element bearers currently sat inside of the Golden Oaks Library, the summer sun celebration in full swing outside, albeit a little late. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were with them, though Luna was remaining quiet for the most part.
“Correct, Applejack,” Celestia nodded.” The day you all got your cutie marks is when the change occurred. Near as I can tell, it happened because Rainbow saw something that should not have been there. A unicorn and an alicorn, standing upon the clouds of Cloudsdale during her race. Just seeing those two was enough to alter the course of history.”
“In what ways, exactly?” Rarity asked, looking around curiously.
Celestia lost her smile before looking at Rainbow Dash. “...Rainbow Dash, answering this question may require I tread on… painful ground for you. I do not wish to cause you any discomfort, so-”
“Just spill, already,” Rainbow replied simply. ‘I’ve been waiting for, like, years. I think I can take a bit of stress.”
Celestia nodded slowly. “Very well… ahem. From the moment my duaghter saw those time travelers, history changed. Her mind was filled with questions that she didn’t have in the original timeline… an admittedly small change to begin, but these things can snowball into something far larger. One day, she and her original family were on their way to a wonderbolts performance. Due to the distractions in her mind, she was unable to act quickly enough to save them from an accident…”
Rainbow wilted slightly, her gaze drifting down, but otherwise she didn’t react.
“...In short, as far as I know, Rainbow Dash was never an orphan before the timeline was changed.”
Twilight leaned forward slightly. “So, wait, time travel magic is really possible!?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, although the only means to do so in this timeline can only send you back a week, and creates a closed loop. You cannot change the course of history with it; merely revisit a moment up to a week ago for a minute at most. Starswirl the Bearded was meticulous in ensuring that the spell would not jeopardize the flow of time. The spell used to change the past had this failsafe removed. It was a deliberate effort to undo your lives.”
“Wow… How do you know all of this?” Fluttershy asked curiously.
Celestia closed her eyes in thought before looking to Twilight. “Because… much like my faithful student… I was contacted by my future self from the original timeline before it dissolved.”