It began at the earliest hour possible. And by earliest, it meant 3 o'clock in the morning. Here, Flash Sentry was currently asleep in his bed. He had spent the evening helping Scootaloo study for her history test over Equestria's knights tomorrow, a subject he knew a lot about due to his training and he also knew that Twilight would go into things four grades higher than the filly could understand. Now, he had gone to bed both physically and mentally exhausted. (The physical part was due to a competition between him and Iron, which included fifteen duels in a row) Now, he was enjoying a particularly fun dream involving dinosaurs, space ships and a talking pizza.
However, his fun-filled dreams were about to be shattered as the sound of loud hoofsteps rumbled downstairs. The noise alone made Flash's eyes barely open, his ears flopping back and forth.
"What's going on?" Springer asked from his basket, trying to wrap his blanket around his ears to block out the noise with no success.
"I have an idea," Flash moaned as he pulled himself out of bed, landing on his head before picking himself up and walking over to the door with a yawn. When he opened it, he came face to face with Spike, who was carrying his alarm clock and had an annoyed look on his face.
"You too?" Flash asked.
"Yeah," the little dragon replied as he crossed his claws, growling.
"Let's go," Flash yawned as he walked down the hall, passing Scootaloo's room as he did. In that moment, it opened and his little sister's head popped out.
"What's with the noise?" The little filly asked as she rubbed her eyes.
"Oh, just something you'll have to get used to when living with us. Just stay right there." Flash flatly replied as he stepped past her and headed downstairs. There in the main library, they saw the cause of the noise, which caused the duo to look at each other and nod. It was one Twilight Sparkle, who was nervously pacing around the room.
"Twilight?" Spike loudly hissed, getting the purple unicorn's attention.
"Oh?" she said, turning to them. "Hey guys."
"What are you doing?" Flash asked before scratching his ear. "And please be quick, I'm sure my bed really wants to tell me to not care right now."
"Yeah! It's the middle of the night!" Spike added as he pointed to a nearby window, the moon still floating in the sky outside. "Why are you down here making noise and pacing like this?!"
Twilight's eyes shrunk at this question. Her voice went frantic as she replied, "Frankly, I don't know how you can sleep at a time like this!"
Spike simple raised his alarm clock. "Its Three AM Twilight! THREE AM!" With that, Spike turned to head back upstairs, only for Twilight to teleport in front of him. "Ack!"
"But Spike! It's awful, it's horrible, it's tragic!" She exclaimed, making Spike slightly backpedal.
"Twilight..." Flash flew in front of her and pushed her backwards. "You need to calm down. Take deep breaths." Twilight did as she was told, breathing in for a good five seconds before breathing out again. Seeing this, Flash patted her back with his hoof. "Good. That's good...now, tell us what's wrong."
"Yeah!" Scootaloo yelled from upstairs. "Why are you freaking out?!"
Twilight did not reply, choosing instead to use her magic to levitate a calendar over to them. "Here." The duo looked at the calendar, seeing the date was the fourth. "Now do you see what's wrong?"
"We forgot to celebrate...arbour day?" Spike asked.
"No!" Twilight exclaimed as she moved over to a nearby desk. "The problem is that I just finished planning my schedule for the month, but I forgot to leave time to plan for next month!"
Flash raised an eyebrow. "And that's a problem...how?"
Twilight rolled her eyes in frustration, her horn shining as she used her magic to move a book off the desk and shove it in their faces. "Don't you see?! There's no time in my schedule to put together another schedule!" She dropped the book and began to pace once more, this time more frantically. "I could move my meeting with the Ponyville Hay Board to the following Tuesday, but then I have to reschedule my lunch with Pinkie Pie, and you know what a nightmare she is with scheduling."
This time, the two gave each other an 'are you kidding me' glance, which made Spike head upstairs to where Scootaloo was. As he went up there, Twilight cried out, "This is an absolute disaster! My whole year could be thrown off!"
"And I woke up from an ice cream dream for this..." Spike grumbled as he passed Scootaloo. "Why do I live here?"
"I hope Ms. Cheerilee accepts acts of demented family members as a good excuse for being let off history tests..." Scootaloo mumbled, letting out a yawn.
"Don't even think about it," Flash told her as he flew up to her. "You two get to sleep. I'll try to deal with this." The two easily agreed and after telling Springer to go back to bed as well, Flash made his way back to the almost hyperventilating unicorn.
"What am I gonna do?! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!"
"Well, this takes me back," Flash commented as he rubbed his eyes, remembering the many times growing up in the Sparkle household where he had to help Twilight through one of her panic attacks. One particular memory involved him, Soarin and Cadance all trying to teach Twilight that it was okay to not study history for one week due to multiple magic lessons that Celestia was giving her all that week. "Come on Twilight. I'm sure we can find you some time to make a new schedule." He flew over to where the book had fallen and looked over all the events, his eyes blinking at the words inside. "Oh boy...this is gonna take a bit. I have not done this in a while..." he mumbled to himself as Twilight walked up to him.
"Thank...you," Twilight panted, her tongue extending after each pant.
"No problem," Flash replied as he put the book down. "But you've seriously gotta stop worrying about the future so much. You can't make a plan for every little thing."
"I can try," Twilight pouted as she sat next to him.
Flash rolled his eyes. "And when something unexpected happens that ruins that plan, then what'll you do?"
Twilight gave him a glare. "A good plan takes the unexpected into account."
"You can't account for the unexpected," Flash remarked back, shrugging. "That's why it's...unexpected. You seriously gotta learn to go with the flow." Flash patted his chest. "Look at me, I never plan too far ahead and my life's great."
Twilight glare intensified. "And how many times have you been battered, bruised and almost killed because you didn't think ahead?!"
Flash wanted to reply, but his small amount of energy didn't help him with making a suitable comeback. Instead, he started pouting as he said, "Okay, you got me there."
"I rest my case," Twilight hissed as she returned her focus to the book, trying to find a way to fit making a schedule for a whole month into all the busy events already planned. "Now, let's get to work."
"Yes ma'am," Flash fakely saluted. "And hope we get back to bed soon."
SMACK!
"Ow!"
The Next Morning...
When Springer woke up that morning, he looked up to see that Flash's bed was completely empty. Doing a quick aura scan, he found that Flash was downstairs and quickly got out of his basket to go find him. As the jakhowl left the room, he saw his partner just down the stairs, face down on a desk, fast asleep. It was here that he saw Twilight to the side, writing in a book at a frantic pace. Knowing he probably shouldn't disturb her due to the earlier morning antics, he tiptoed over to partner and began to shake him. "Flash...Flash! Time to wake up Flash."
"PINEAPPLES!" Flash cried out as his head shot up.
"Pineapples?" Springer asked, eyebrow raised at the exclamation.
"Oh..." Flash mumbled as blinked rapidly, his head shaking around as he looked at the room. Realizing where he was, the defender let out a yawn and started stretching out his body. "Must have fallen asleep."
Springer rolled his eyes at the statement. "Obviously. Now, what's this about pineapples?"
"I was dreaming about pineapples," Flash told him with a shrug. "So sue me."
"Whatever," Springer replied before seeing the bags under his eyes. "Were you awake all night?"
Flash let out another yawn. "Mostly..." the pegasi then tried to lay his head back down on the desk as he mumbled out, "I was trying to help Twilight redo her schedule and-"
"Oh, my gosh!" Twilight called out as she held up the book. "I think I did it! If I can find a way to read The Art of Invisibility Spells and Thornhoof's Brief History of Canterlot at the same time, that should leave me a half-hour scheduling window!"
"Hooray..." Flash said half heartedly, trying to raise his hooves in the air. "Please kill me now..."
"Seriously?!" Springer remarked, but before he could say anything else, his attention was attracted to something else. A gust of wind filled the room, odd considering that none of the windows were open. The jakhowl turned to the middle of the room, blinking as several magic sparks seemed to appear from the middle of the room.
"Huh?" Twilight asked as she looked at the sight as well while Flash lifted his head up to see what was happening. "What in the name of-" she tried to say, only for a bright light to appear in the center of the room, causing her to shield her eyes. As she did, Flash and Springer jumped in front of her. Springer created a Bone Breaker and Flash, not having Lightbringer, found the heaviest book that came to hoof and raised it as a weapon.
"Are you ready buddy?" Flash asked, squinting at the light.
"Ready!" Springer replied, nodding and twirling his weapon.
That is, till the light faded. As it did, the three of blinked at the next sight before them.
In front of them...was them.
Or more specifically, Twilight and Flash.
A second pair of Flash and Twilight were now standing in the room and they looked...beaten up. To start, both were wearing black ripped-up rubber suits. The Twilight was wearing an eye patch, had a bandage around her head and a large cut on her left cheek. Flash on the other hoof, had a short and horrible styled mane along with a crooked nose and a large black eye.
The two new ponies looked around for a second, only for the new Flash to turn to the new Twilight. "You couldn't wait could you?"
"Oh shut up Flash!" The new Twilight barked back.
As for the originals, along with Springer, they just sat there, unable to comprehend the sight before them. That is, till Flash broke the silence by saying, "Ooookay. I know what's going on here."
"You do?!" the duo asked in shocked unison.
"Eeyup." Flash cheekily replied. "I'm still dreaming!"
"No you're not." Springer growled, nudging the stallion. "You're awake. Trust me."
"Then I've got to be hallucinating from a lack of sleep."
"No, you're not!" Springer repeated before pointing to the two, "I see them too!"
"Oh...great." Flash replied, now rubbing his eyes. "Well, if that's the case...I got nothing."
Meanwhile, the new Twilight starting shaking her head as she rushed over to Twilight, quickly grabbing her shoulders. "Twilight, I don't have much time. You've gotta listen to me."
Twilight backpedaled while shrugging the other's hooves, staring at her twin in suspicion. "Who are you?!" She asked. "I mean, you're me, but I'm me too. How can there be two mes? It's not scientifically possible." She poked the second with her hoof. "You are not scientifically possible!"
"Yeah," Flash nodded with a glare. "They could be fakes...or I'm still sleeping. I'm still going for the second option."
"We're not fakes," the second Flash barked back before pointing to a certain jakhowl. "Ask Springer. Scan us buddy."
They turned to the jakhowl who was already scanning the other duo. He then hopped in place as his eyes widened while pointing at the other Flash. "No way...they're really you. I don't know how, but those two are...well, you guys."
"Yup." Other Flash replied as he walked in front of the four. "Listen up, we're from the future. We-"
"THE FUTURE?!"
Future Flash and Twilight covered their ears as the other three yelled that. A second later, the future Flash rolled his eyes as he replied, "Yes. We're from the future."
"Is this the part where one of us faints?" Present Flash asked.
"Oh, I am so on it." Springer remarked before he fell back with a thud.
"That was quick."
Meanwhile, Twilight decided to completely ignore the unconscious Springer and rushed towards her future self. "Amazing. I can't believe I actually learned how to time travel. How did I-"
"Twilight listen, I've come with a very important message." Future Twilight interrupted, only for the present Twilight to interrupt back.
"What happened to you? The future must be awful."
"Meh, its not so bad." Future Flash shrugged before scratching the side of his head.
"Stop it Flash! This is no time to be playing around!" Future Twilight barked at him before turning back to her present self. "Please, I don't have much ti-"
"Is there some sort of epic pony war in the distant future or something?" Twilight interrupted.
Future Twilight shook her head. "Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning. But that's not important right now. What's important is-"
While the two Twilights conversed, Flash and Future Flash continued to stare at each other. Flash glanced at his mane, his eyes slightly shrinking at the sight. "Oookay, that doesn't look good. What happened?"
"Can't tell you," Future Flash replied, crossing his hooves. "We both know that we've read enough comics to know that changing the past can have disastrous consequences. Remember the comic run of Cyborg-Hoof and Metapool?"
"Point made." Flash shrugged, pointing at his later self. "Though if that's true, why are you here?"
"I was trying to stop Twilight, but she cast the spell before I could stop her."
"Oh...yeah, that makes sense. Though I have a bad feeling that there's more to this."
"There is." Future Flash grumbled, rolling his eyes. At that moment, his body began to shine, showing familiar sparks of energy. Future Flash then smirked as he gave his present self a salute. "Looks like we're about to head back to our time. See ya later past me."
"Later." Flash saluted back. "Say hi to future Springer for me."
"I will." Future Flash replied before tapping his chin. "Oh, and look out for the broom."
And with that, the two disappeared in a flash of light.
"Future Twilight?" Twilight asked the dead air.
"Broom?" Flash said in confusion as he stepped forward. "What broom?" He soon got his answer as the end of a broom that Spike had left on the floor the previous day swung up and smacked his nose. "OW! Should have seen that one coming."
Twilight rushed over to him. "Let me take a look," she said as she moved his hooves away. Flash's nose was now bloody and crooked, just like Future Flash's. "Oh no! This must be what Future Twilight trying to warn me about! Their clothes, your nose, her scar, your mane...oh, what a mess they are!...I mean, we are...or will be." Twilight then gasped as a horrible thought entered her head. "They must want me to prevent whatever horrible thing happens in the future!"
"But Future Flash said changing the past can have major consequences on the present," Flash, still holding his nose, told her. "And we really-"
"Well, this isn't the past!" Twilight barked back, interrupting the hurting pegasi. "This is the present, and that means the future can still be changed!"
In that moment, Spike and Scootaloo came downstairs.
"What's going on now?" Spike asked.
"And what happened to him?" Scootaloo asked ask she pointed at Springer.
Flash just sighed. "It's a long story."
A little later in Ponyville, we find Pinkie and Fluttershy walking through town. Pinkie was 'walking' with a bunch of balloons tied to her back, causing her to float a few inches of the ground. "C'mon Fluttershy!" The pink party pony cried as she moved through the air, as if she was swimming. "The party can't start until the party supplies get there!"
Fluttershy on the other hoof, was currently being bogged down by a multitude of heavy bags on her back. The pressure alone made her drag her body across the ground. "Happy to...help," she grunted under the weight. "But...can I carry...the balloons next time?"
"Need some help?"
The pegasus looked up to see Iron Core standing besides her.
"I'm good," Fluttershy replied as tried to pick herself up. "Don't trouble yourself. I-oh!"
Fluttershy suddenly found herself knocked over as something purple knocked into her. Pinkie and Iron soon saw that it was Twilight, who now wearing a pair of novelty glasses and nose as the gag material had fell out of the supplies. She quickly scrambled up and hopped onto a nearby bridge. "Listen everypony!" She called out, seemingly unaware of the novelty items on her face. "I've got something really important to say!"
The townponies who heard her turned, only to start laughing. It was now that Twilight noticed the glasses and knocked them off. "This is no laughing matter, we have a crisis on our hooves!" That shut the ponies up, who were now giving Twilight their complete focus. "I've just been visited by myself from the future."
Once again the laughter began, causing Twilight to groan in frustration. "This isn't a joke," Twilight cried as she leapt of the bridge. "My future self tried to warn me about a horrible disaster that's going to occur sometime before next Tuesday morning!"
"What kind of disaster?" Applejack asked as she, Rainbow and Rarity arrived at the scene.
"I don't know," Twilight replied, semi-panic in her voice. "I got sucked back into the future before I had a chance to explain!"
It was at this point Pinkie, still floating, cried out. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" She rapidly kicked her legs through the air, only to float just slightly faster.
"Now hold on," Iron said as he stepped forward. "I'm all for stopping a disaster, but how do we know this isn't just something you dreamed up?"
"Oh, its real." They all turned to see Flash, Springer, Spike and Scootaloo walking up to them.
"What happened to you?" Iron asked as he pointed to Flash's nose.
"That doesn't matter," Flash grumbled, fiddling with his nose as he continued. "What matters is that Twilight's telling the truth. The two of us appeared from the future and both of looked like we had been through a warzone."
"Ooookay." Iron replied with a raised eyebrow. "And if I believed you, then could you tell me what's about to happen?"
Twilight shook her head. "No. Like I said, I got sucked back into the future before I could explain."
Iron's eyebrow raised even further. "So we're supposed to stop an incoming disaster, but have no clue as to what it is?" Iron looked back at Flash. "Okay Sentry, this better be some dumb joke or-"
"I know its not much to go on-" Flash remarked, waving his hoof at the defender.
"That's nothing to go on," Iron deadpanned.
Rarity rushed up to Twilight. "Whatever should we do, Twilight? How do we stop the disaster if we don't know what it is?"
Twilight's face became an expression of extreme seriousness. "We'll just have to work together to make sure we're safe." She turned to the pegasus in the air. "Rainbow Dash, you and the other pegasi spread out over Equestria and look for any kind of problem that could lead to a disaster...and I mean anything!"
"You got it," Rainbow replied with a salute, shooting off into the sky.
"Everypony else-" Twilight said before being interrupted by a screaming Pinkie.
"Anypony else wanna panic with me?" She asked, getting absolutely no reply. "No? Okay!" She then continued to panic, still screaming as she floated away.
"Everypony else," Twilight restarted. "Time to disaster proof Equestria!"
And so, everypony worked to fix anything that could lead to an unsafe situation. They started fixing up cracks in the dams and bridges, filling up the town's water silo, and even cleaning up the dirt of the road. Flash, Applejack, Springer and Iron had been put on Everfree Forest patrol, with instructions to make sure anything with teeth, claws or stingers did not come within a mile of the forest's border.
"Done," Twilight said as she double checked her list for the fifth time while Spike walked beside her, "and done...and done...and done. Again." She then turned to the forest team as they returned from their patrol. "Flash, Applejack, what about the Everfree Forest?"
"The perimeter's clear," Applejack assured her.
"Biggest thing we saw near it was a squirrel," Flash replied. scratching his side. "Are we done here?"
"Great," the unicorn ignored him before looking up at Rainbow.
"And my team gave the all clear from Fillydelphia to Las Pegasus," Rainbow said with a slaute.
"Excellent!" Twilight cheered as she did one final tick. "Well, we've done everything on the list, but still," Twilight's face once again became one of concern. "Future Twilight and Flash looked like they had been through a horrible ordeal. I just have this nagging feeling we should be looking for something bigger than loose bolts and leaky pipes."
"We can't be that sure Twilight," Flash said as he placed his wing on her shoulder. "For all we know, what happened might have started out small and built up. Maybe stopping these things from happening has saved the future. Besides, if something big was going to happened, somepony will have seen it. It's not like some monster is just show up out of nowhere and roar at us."
Suddenly, something showed up out of nowhere and roared at them. They all turned towards the sound of the roar and saw it was a giant black three headed dog, which leapt over a nearby store and came into full view.
"Okay everypony," Pinkie said as she calmly walked into the center of the street. "Follow my lead. AAAAHHHH!"
The towns ponies did follow her lead and began running and screaming loudly.
"Yeah...should have saw that coming." Flash commented as he tapped his sword by his side.
"Is that what I think it is?" Iron asked as he walked up to Flash, Piecemaker in hoof.
"Yup." Flash agreed. "At least I think it is." The pegasi blinked at the sight before glancing at Twilight. "That's uh...Cerberus, right Twilight?"
"It is! That's Cerberus!" She cried as she watched the giant dog gnaw on a nearby roof. "He's supposed to be guarding the gates of Tartarus! But if he's here, then all the ancient evil creatures that have been imprisoned there could escape and destroy Equestria!"
"Destroy Equestria?!" Spike asked in shock, hopping in place.
"Yeah!" Twilight exclaimed, looking...oddly happy. "Isn't it great?!"
"You and I have a very different opinion on the word great," Springer commented, pointing at the beast.
Twilight however, ignored him and yelled, "Hey, Cerberus!" She called out, getting the beast's attention. "You look like you could use some obedience training!" She got into a ready position and sparked her horn. "Magic obedience training!"
"Careful Twilight," Flash warned her as he and Iron readied their Celestic Gears. Cerberus looked down at Twilight and roared while the unicorn closed her eyes and prepared her magical attack. However, when she reopened her eyes to attack, she was shocked the discover that Cerberus was on its back, getting its belly rubbed by Fluttershy.
"Who's the cute widdle three-headed dog?" she said as if talking to a baby, using her hooves to massage the creature. "You are! You are!"
"Wow..." Twilight gasped, her horn sputtering as she cancelled her magic. A second later, she and the apprentice knights moved closer to animal caretaker. "Fluttershy, I knew you were good with animals, but this is-!"
"Awesome!" Flash interrupted.
Iron nodded. "You wouldn't think this thing was the only thing keeping a bunch of evil monsters from raining down terror."
"Aww," Fluttershy blushed as she kept scratching him. "He's just a big furry guy who got out of his yard, that's all. Right Cerberus? Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?"
"ARF! ARF!"
"Even so," Flash said as he sheathed his weapon. "We should probably get him back to Tartarus before whatever's trapped in there realizes he's gone and makes a break for it."
In that moment, Pinkie Pie rushed past them while continuing to scream in fear. "Pinkie!" Twilight called out, causing the pink earth pony vanish and teleport next to her.
"Yes Twilight?" Pinkie asked, sounding completely calm.
"Do you have a ball I can borrow?"
Pinkie did not reply, and instead rushed over to a nearby tree, which had a large hole inside of it. "Of course! I have balls stashed all over Ponyville," she explained as she dug around in it. "You know, in case of ball emergencies."
"That's...oddly specific," Flash said as he watched Twilight catch a ball from Pinkie.
"Hey Cerberus!" Twilight called out as the dog monster looked up and saw the ball. "Look what I have." She levitated the ball its eye, causing Cerberus to drool at the mouth. She then turned to her friends, gesturing Flash to follow her. "Flash and I'll be back as soon as I've returned him to the gates of Tartarus. Once he's back home, there'll be no disaster."
"But be on alert. This might have been set up by somepony who caused the disaster." Flash said to Iron, who nodded. He turned back to Twilight. "Let's get going."
"Let's."
The Next Morning...
When the sun rose over the horizon, Springer slowly ascended from his bed, yawning. "Mmmm...that was a good sleep. I hope Flash comes home soon..." Springer said to himself as he got up and left the room. "Wonder how the others are?"
There, he saw two others leave their room. The young drake spoke up first, "Morning Springer, how was your night?"
The jakhowl shrugged. "It was okay. You?"
"Best night sleep I've had in weeks," the dragon replied, a yawn soon following.
"Morning," Scootaloo said as she left her room.
"Morning," the two non-ponies replied, only for their ears to pick up the front door opening and closing. Looking down, the three saw Flash and Twilight walk into the building. Both were covered in mud, but had a smile on their faces.
"Hey guys," Spike said as him and the others stepped up to them. "How'd it go with Cerberus?"
Flash smirked. "Oh, it was an adventure the likes of which nopony has or ever will experience again. I can't even describe it, you just had to be there." Flash then cocked an eyebrow, his cheeky smirk growing. "Especially the parts where nothing happened between here and Ponyville."
"Sounds gripping," Scootaloo giggled, getting a ruffle of her mane as a result.
Twilight's smile increased as she walked past them, checking off other checklists in response. "The best part is that we got him back before any of the evil creatures could escape."
"Perfect," Springer commented with another yawn. "Disaster averted. Sounds good to me."
However, Spike then clutched his stomach and suddenly let out a loud belch along with a smoke of green mist. The mist reconfigured into a scroll, which conked Twilight in the face and made her cry out. Twilight moaned as she reached up and felt the area the scroll had hit, only for her expression to change to one of fear. "Oh no," she said as she rushed to a nearby mirror.
"What's the big deal?" Spike asked as he finished reading the scroll. "it's just a lost dog flyer. I guess the Princess hasn't heard we found Cerberus yet."
"It's not that," Twilight replied before spinning around. "It's this!" She pointed to her cheek, which was now sporting a large red cut.
Scootaloo flinched seeing it. "Oooh...that looks like it stings."
"It's just a paper cut," Spike deadpanned with a roll of his eyes.
"But it's in the same spot where that future Twilight had a scar," Flash caught on, walking up to the unicorn. "That's not good..."
"So...what does that mean?" Springer asked, nudging his partner with his paw.
"It means we haven't changed the future at all!" Twilight cried out, rubbing the sides of her head in fear. "The disaster is still coming!" She then began to pace in a circle, muttering to herself for several minutes. "If the disaster wasn't caused by Cerberus getting loose, then what could it possibly be?"
"I don't know, but you might want to give the pacing a rest." Spike said before letting out a laugh. Twilight looked down, only to see that she had somehow created a moat of some kind around the table she was pacing around. "You've worn a groove into the floor."
"I don't have time for another one of your lectures Spike," Twilight called out as she continued pacing. "This is serious!"
"My lectures?!" Spike blurted out. "What are you-"
But Twilight wasn't listening. She was already in self-talking panic mode. "I did everything I could think of to change the future, but it didn't work! Why didn't it work?!"
"You don't know that Twilight. In fact, the paper cut could just be some coincidence." Flash said as he stopped her from pacing and pulled her out of the hole. "You need to relax. For all you know, the disaster might be caused by you doing something to prevent it."
Twilight suddenly gasped before grabbing Flash's face. "Flash, you're a genius!" The next thing he knew, Twilight suddenly kissed him on the check before teleporting away.
"Errr...No problem." Flash commented as he rubbed his cheek, a little perplexed by what she had just done.
Twilight then reappeared in the middle of the room, standing perfectly still. "If that's the case, the next best thing is for me to do nothing!"
"Nothing?"
"Yes! If I stand right here and don't move a muscle until next Tuesday, I can't possibly do whatever it is that Future Twilight wanted to warn me not to do!"
All of them blinked at the declaration before Springer spoke up, scratching his head as he did. "Oookay. I guess that could work," he turned to Scootaloo. "Errr...would it? I think I'm kinda lost on this." The filly just shrugged in response.
Spike on the other hoof, shined a cheeky grin. He started pacing around the now still unicorn. "So...no matter what happens, you're not gonna move a muscle, huh?" He got a devilish look on his face. "Then maybe you won't mind if I..." He shot off and reappeared a few seconds later, his claws holding something. "Eat an entire tub of ice cream?"
Twilight stared at Spike, who had pulled out a spoon and was about to dip it in the icy dessert. She then looked over at Flash with pleading eyes. The pegasi rolled his eyes and moved over to the dragon, snatching the tub away from him.
"Hey!" Spike moaned as he reached out for it.
"Sorry bud, Twilight would kill me if I let you." Flash looked back at his sister and partner. "That includes you two as well. Don't get any ideas, go it?"
"Phooey!" Spike said with crossed claws while the others just nodded in response.
As he put the tub away, there was a knock at the door. Scootaloo went to answer it, only for it to reveal Rainbow Dash. "Morning kiddo!"
"Hi Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo cheered, happy to see her idol. "What are you doing here?"
"Just here to see if Twilight got back." Rainbow looked up and saw the purple unicorn. "Ah! She's here. Hey Twilight, another pegasus got back from Baltimare with an all clear and–" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Twilight standing completely still. "What's going on? Why's she just standing there?"
Spike let out a laugh. "She's decided that she's not gonna move until next Tuesday cause she thinks it'll prevent the disaster from happening."
"Pfft-really?! HA!" Rainbow guffawed as she floated over to Twilight. "Oh, this is too rich." She suddenly gasped loudly, "hey, Twilight! There's a mouse right behind you!" They saw panic cover Twilight's face, making the two let out a series of laughs. "HA! Gotcha!"
"Oh! Oh! I wanna try!" Scootaloo said as she walked up to them.
"Sure. What do you have in mind?"
"Umm...." Scootaloo rubbed her chin in thought. A few seconds later, a lightbulb went off in her head. "I got it!" the filly ran back up to her room, quickly returning with a small case on her back.
"What's that?"
"Its the case me and the crusaders keep our stage clothes in!" Scootaloo responded as she dug around the chest. "It also has stuff Pinkie used to use in her comedy acts. She let's us play with them from time to time. Now let's see...here!" Scootaloo pulled out a fake mustache and some fake googly eyes. "Let's make her laugh!"
"Nice!" Rainbow replied as she landed and start rummaging through the chest.
Scootaloo started first, which included the fake face hair and putting on some nerdy glasses. "Look at me Twilight!"
"No me!" Rainbow barked, adverting Twilight's eyes as she saw Rainbow put on a rainbow-colored afro...which made no sense she already had rainbow-colored hair. That and a pair of googly eyes over regular ones.
"Or me!" Spike called out, making Twilight turn to him. There, she saw the young drake with a clown nose, fake vampire teeth and glasses with fake slinky eyes coming out of them. The trio started laughing as they saw Twilight's now puffed up face, as she was trying to not laugh.
Spike then took off the apparel grabbed a nearby quill. "I got another idea. How about this?" he said as he started using the quill to tickle the unicorn. This lasted for several seconds, causing the other two to giggle at Twilight's pained expression.
"What's going on?" said a new voice. It was Flash, who was returning to the room with Springer. The jakhowl had wanted a drink and was now joining him back into the room. However, as they entered, Twilight had had enough. She sparked her horn and enveloped Spike in a magic aura, which she used to toss the dragon away from her. Spike crashed into a nearby wall, causing him to unleash a fireball in surprise. That fireball shot towards Twilight, who did not have enough time to react. Luckily however, she felt herself be pushed out of the way, falling to the floor with a thud.
"FLASH!" She heard Scootaloo cry out. Twilight then looked up, gasping at a new sight.
Flash's mane had been burned almost completely off, leaving it both short and horribly scarred.
"Are you okay?" Rainbow asked him.
"What happened?" Flash replied, scratching his head. "I feel kinda funny..."
"I'm so sorry Flash," Spike said as he got up. "I didn't mean to. It was a total accident."
"What are you talking about?" Springer then grabbed a nearby mirror, showing to the defender. He saw his new do and let out a sigh. "Oh no..."
"Aw, its not too bad," Scootaloo tried to assure him, only getting a frown from her brother in response. "Or...not?"
"This is bad!" Twilight said as she got up. "Now your mane looks just like Future Flash's. It's just another sign that the future hasn't changed! Not doing anything didn't work either! Oh, I wish there was a way to know what was going to happen so I could stop it!"
Flash rolled his eyes again as he walked up to the mare, patting her on the shoulder. "Stop panicking. Relax Twilight."
"Relax? How can I relax?!"
"Simple. You slow down." Flash assured her, patting her again. However, this didn't work, as Twilight was still shaking in place. Letting out a sigh, Flash continued, "Listen, the reason this whole thing is happening is because of the future. We can't see the future and its okay. You need to relax and figure this out without thinking you have to control everything."
Twilight's eyes shrunk as Flash's statement went through her ears. A smile appeared on her face as she turned and kissed his cheek again. "You're right Flash! You're exactly right!"
"Errr...yeah." Flash commented as he rubbed his cheek. He then patted her with his wing again. "See? No need to panic or-"
"I know what I have to do!" Twilight interrupted him, her expression no longer showing a smile.
"Uh-oh..."
"I have to monitor...EVERYTHING!"
Three facehoofs, a faceclaw and facepaw soon followed.
Several days later...
Pinkie Pie was happily skipping through town when she noticed Iron walking down the street. Deciding the say hi, she bounced over to him. "Hey Iron!" she said once she was besides him. "What'cha doin?"
"Sentry hasn't reported for patrol or training for three straight days," Iron explained as he made his way towards the library. "He better have one heck of an excuse for sending Springer out to do his job."
Pinkie thought for a moment. "You know, I haven't seen Twilight for a few days either...wonder what she's been doing?"
"Probably distracting Sentry with something stupid." Iron grumbled before arriving at the library door. He opened it, only to see the main library empty. The two shared a glance, making their way upstairs soon after. As they arrived at Twilight's room, Iron blurted out, "What the heck?!"
The room was filled with mathematical charts and graphs, with telescopes pointed out of every window. Twilight was sitting in the middle, now sporting a new bandage on her head and was zipping around the room with Flash and Spike sitting in the corner watching her. "Off by point zero two from yesterday," Twilight said as she looked into a telescope and then a graph. "Carry the fifteen," she rushed over to a book on her desk. "Negative azimuth on the fourteenth moon."
"Yup. I knew it." Iron grumbled, rolling his eyes at the sight.
"Knew what?" Flash asked as he turned to the new visitors.
"I told Pie here that Sparkle would be the reason that you weren't coming to training." Iron said as he pointed at Pinkie. "Though I gotta say, Sparkle's really lost it, hasn't she?"
"You have no idea," Flash replied with a shrug. "Its been a long while since I've seen her this far gone. Granted, I always had Princess Celestia to fall back on when necessary but..."
"Aw, who cares?!" Spike interrupted as he stuffed a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. "As long as I can keep eating ice cream, I don't care how far she goes. Heh heh heh...sorry Future Spike."
"Just don't come crying to me when you're on the floor with a stomachache," Flash deadpanned.
Pinkie then turned to Twilight and moved up besides her. "Are you okay?" She asked her friend.
Twilight turned to Pinkie and smiled. "Ah Pinkie, I'm glad you're here." She grabbed her hoof and moved her over to one of the telescopes. "Can you help me recalibrate the apertures on the nine-and-quarter catadioptric telescopes?"
"Sure," Pinkie replied, though she had no idea what any of that meant.
As Pinkie tried to help her, Iron walked over and sat down by Flash. "So uh...where did the bandage come from on her head? I don't remember that when you came to me two days ago with your mane like that."
"Eh, one of telescopes fell over after Scootaloo tried to mess with it. Hit Twilight on the head, so Scootaloo isn't allowed in here for now." Flash gave him a shrug. "I gave her some bits to go get some lunch."
"Ah..." Iron glanced back at Twilight, seeing the bags under her eyes. "When was the last time she slept?" Iron asked.
"Not since our future selves arrived," Flash replied. "And she really needs to-"
"There's only three days until next Tuesday," Twilight interrupted, barking at the two as she continued working. "I can sleep all I want after that!"
"You've been awake way too long Twilight," Spike said as he opened another tub of ice cream.
"Yeah," Pinkie added, nodding. "Tuesday's not three days from now. Tuesday's tomorrow!"
"Oh boy," Flash sighed, knowing what was going to happen next.
Twilight let out a loud gasp, suddenly teleporting all over the room. She then teleported over to the telescope Pinkie was supposed to be recalibrating. "Pinkie! Did you finish recalibrating the apertures on the nine-and-quarter-inch catadioptric telescopes?"
Pinkie blinked several times, soon smiling. "I have no idea."
Twilight pushed her aside and looked through the telescope, only to then cry out in pain. "MY EYE!"
Flash instantly took flight and rushed over to her, but as he did, Twilight accidently knocked the telescope with her tail. The telescope flipped over and crashed into Flash face, sending him flying.
"HA! That had to hurt!" Iron guffawed, watching the scene.
Pinkie meanwhile, had moved over to a nearby fireplace. "Don't worry Twilight," she said before rushing over to her. "I have eye patches stashed all over Ponyville, encase of eye patch emergencies." She applied the eye garb to Twilight and seemingly made a mirror appear in front of the purple unicorn. "There. Now you look like a pirate, a sleepy pirate with a really weird mane cut."
Twilight looked at her reflection and gasped. "The eye patch...another sign!"
"You okay Flash?" she then heard Spike ask, causing her to look over at where Flash had landed.
"I'm okay," Flash replied as he got up. "My eye hurts though."
"HA! Now, that's a shiner!" Iron guffawed again, almost falling over in laughter.
"Huh?" Flash mumbled as he moved over to mirror and saw that he now had a large bruise over his left eye. "Oh come on..."
"And another sign!" Twilight shrieked, her body now zooming around the room to check all her work. "Nearly all the signs have come true! I haven't done a thing to prevent the catastrophe!"
"Now hold on Twilight..." Flash tried, only to see a purple blur zoom past him.
Twilight then reappeared in front of blackboard filled with equations. She vibrated as she looked them over, yelping as she did. "If Tuesday's tomorrow, and the disaster happens by Tuesday morning, then there's only one solution!" She turned towards the others and gave them a mega-serious glare. "I'll just have to...stop time!"
The four stared at her, obvious believing she had well and truly snapped.
Then, Iron decided to speak up.
"I'm out," he said as he turned and walked out the room.
"This can only end badly," Flash said with a sigh.
That night...
Twilight and her three friends had just arrived in Canterlot, where they disembarked from the train while dressed in black rubber suits. No sooner had they left the train, Twilight broke out into a run to the castle. "Okay," she finally said as they arrived at their destination. "The Canterlot archives are right over there. Let's move." She began tip hoofing towards the building, while Flash and the others simply trotted normally.
They entered the archive's gardens and watched as Twilight leapt from one hiding spot to another. "I don't think we need to sneak around Twilight," Spike deadpanned as they followed her.
"Yeah," Flash agreed. "Last I checked, it's not illegal to walk around Canterlot. Is there a curfew we should know about?"
Twilight shushed them, only to suddenly gasp. "Guard!"
The others looked over and saw a night guard walking towards them. They then watched as Twilight leapt onto a nearby fountain that had a statue and mimicked it's stance, obviously trying to pass as a statue. "Seriously?" Flash asked her, only for her to glare at him.
"Guys!" Twilight cried out, causing them all to sigh before they each stood like a statue. The guard slowly walked passed them, not even giving them a single glance.
Once he was gone, Twilight let out a long sigh. "That was close."
Flash stared at the guard's back and rolled his eyes. "That guy's either a really bad guard, or he already saw us and was just ignoring us."
Spike meanwhile, was pulling at the rubber suit he was wearing. "I dunno why we have to wear these things either."
"Aren't we wearing them for fun?" Pinkie asked in confusion.
"No, there's nothing fun about this!" Twilight barked back.
"Don't worry Pinkie," Flash assured her. "We can have fun later if we want."
"Guys! Focus!" Twilight told them in a harsh whisper. "The only way to prevent this disaster is to stop time." She pointed to the building. "Time spells are kept in the Starswirl the Bearded wing, the most secure section of the archives. That's why we're sneaking around!"
"Twilight, you can't be serious." Flash interjected. "You have level five access, meaning you can walk up to the guards and ask them to escort you to that section."
Twilight unfortunately wasn't listening, and leapt into a nearby bush, ripping her suit as she did. She then shot to a nearby window, only to not reach it. "Shoot!" she glanced back at Flash. "Flash, lift me up will you?"
Flash just rolled his eyes and walked over to the doorway, where the guards caught sight of him.
"Flash," one said as he saw him. "Is that you?"
"Hey guys, long time no see."
"What happened to you?" The other asked.
"Oh you know, regular Royal Knight stuff."
"Remind me never to try and be one," the first said, causing the three of them to laugh.
Flash then pointed to his friends behind the bushes. "Anyways, Twilight needs to look something up. You mind?"
"Oh, of course," the second said as they opened the door. Flash turned to the others and gestured for them to enter. Spike and Pinkie stepped over, followed by a twitching Twilight.
"What happened to her?" The first guard asked.
"Don't ask," Flash replied as he stepped inside. He then leaned his head back out. "Trust me."
The four of them made their way up the stairs and through the halls, Twilight still insisting on them sneaking around. Thankfully, the soon found themselves outside the Starswirl the Bearded Wing, which they quickly found out was locked.
"Oh no," Twilight said, looking at the lock.
"Now what do we do?" Spike asked, only to then hear a pair of hoofsteps.
"The guards!" Twilight cried as she began to panic.
Flash rolled his eyes and watched as a shadow came around the corner, soon revealed to be another night guard. The guard saw them as smiled. "Oh hey Flash...Twilight, been a while."
"Hey Shadow Spear," Flash replied, waving. "What's up?"
"Nothing much." Shadow then cricked his neck. "Hey Flash, I've been practising since our last spar. Think we could have a match sometime? I know I'll win."
"Sure Shadow." Flash then pointed to the gate. "But uh...could you do us a favor? We need in there."
"Oh sure," his horn glowed, unlocking the gate.
"Thanks pal," Flash said as the other three went inside. "You free tomorrow?"
"I get off two hours after sunrise."
"Then I'll meet you at the training grounds." With that, Flash walked inside, where he saw Twilight glaring at herself in the mirror. "What's up?"
"Don't you see?" Twilight asked as she turned to him. "We look just like our future selves. The last sign has come true."
Pinkie walked up to them. "And that's bad...right?"
Twilight just let out a sigh. "Come on, its almost Tuesday morning. The disaster could happen at any moment."
"But how do we find the time stopping spell?" Spike asked.
"How do we know one even exists?" Flash added.
Twilight thought about this and her panicked face grew more and more worried. "I...don't....KNOW!" She then started rushing around the room, looking at any and all scrolls she could find. "Start looking! That's our only hope!"
The three nodded and began look through the scrolls, trying to find anything related to time in any shape or form. "Time spell, time spell, time spell," Flash said as he moved through the many scrolls. He then grabbed one and unravelled it, reading the title. "The cook while you read spell...the proving pears are superior spell...the flaming carrot spell...geez lousie, Starswirl was into some weird stuff. The all purpose beard cleaning spell...seriously?!"
They kept looking, occasionally glancing over at the window to check if the sun was up as they searched for the much needed time spells. But then, the light of the morning dawn crept over the horizon and the sun arose. They had run out of time.
"Twilight," Spike cried from the window, "it's over. It's officially Tuesday morning."
Twilight almost screamed as she moved over to the window. "No!" She cried. "Tuesday morning, the disaster! INCOMING!" She pushed Spike away and flinched on the ground...only for nothing to happen.
Spike bent down and poked her. "I dunno Twilight," he said as he looked out the window. "I don't see any disasters. Looks like a pretty nice day."
In that moment, Princess Celestia walked by. "Oh hello Twilight, I didn't know you were coming by. Happy Tuesday." She walked away, seeing Flash as she did. "Oh dear. Flash, you might want to see a mane dresser. Your mane's looking a little...unknightly."
"Yes your highness," he bowed, watching her walk away.
Once she left, he moved over to Twilight. "Is it possible that there never was a disaster? That I've just been making myself frantic over nothing?"
"I guess," Flash shrugged. "I mean, the only reason you thought there was a disaster was because of how our future selves looked. But we started looking that way because of our attempts to change the future. Though I am wondering why we went back in time..."
Twilight looked herself and Flash over, suddenly giggling at the sight. "I don't know. But I do know one thing, we look ridiculous." They all laughed at that. Twilight then shook her head, her lesson now learned as she finally calmed down. "And it's all because I couldn't stop worrying and let the future handle itself! Well, not anymore. From now on, I'm gonna solve problems as they come, and stop worrying about every little thing."
"Welcome to my world," Flash said with a smile.
Spike also smiled. "So does that mean there won't be any more late night pacing?
Twilight nodded. "No more late night pacing. If only I had learned this lesson a week ago, we wouldn't have had to go through all this."
In that moment, Pinkie's head suddenly appeared with a scroll in hoof. "Twilight! Twilight!" she cried. "I found something! It doesn't stop time, but it lets you go back in time. It says you can go back once, and it only lasts for a few moments." She watched as Twilight levitated the scroll to her. "Does that help?"
Twilight looked at the scroll and smiled. "Pinkie, you're a genius."
"Woo-hoo!" Pinkie cheered as she bounced up and down.
"Now I can go back and tell past Twilight that she doesn't need to go berserk with worry about a disaster that's never gonna come!" Twilight explained as her horn lit up.
As these words left Twilight's mouth, Flash's head suddenly realized what was happening. His eyes then went wide, making his dash towards to her. "Twilight, wait a minute!"
But it was too late. The duo were soon enveloped by a flash of light, disappearing shortly after. That is, till a few seconds later, they reappeared. Spike and Pinkie had watched the spot they had been in, glancing at each other as they saw Twilight's new frustrated look on her face.
"Waste your time...worrying...about..." Twilight let out a yell before slapping herself in the face. "Ugh! I can't believe I just did that!"
"What happened?" Spike asked, still blinking.
Twilight just rolled her eyes. "Remember last week when future us came to warn us about something? That was me trying to warn myself not to worry so much! Now I'm gonna spend the next week freaking out about a disaster that doesn't even exist! Ugh..." She then turned to Flash. "You!" She poked him in the chest. "Why didn't you tell past you about what was gonna happen? He would have listened to you and told past me about what present me wanted to tell past me!"
"Well..." Flash said as he pushed her hoof away. "If present me had told past me what present you had wanted to tell past you, then past you never would have become present you and present you wouldn't have learned the important lesson that past you has learned over this last week!"
"But if we had...no wait...that's..." Twilight to rebuttal, only to trip over her own words.
Flash tapped her chest. "Trust me on a guy who's read a ton of time travel storylines in your brother's comics," He then lifted her chin, staring directly into her eyes. "Time travel doesn't solve problems. It just makes stories about a guy who goes around in a blue guard outhouse and does things that make no sense!"
Twilight sighed. "I guess you've got a point."
"Wow...my head hurts." Spike commented while Pinkie just giggled at the sight.
"Come on," Flash said as he started walking towards the door. "Let's go home."
"Right," Twilight said as she followed him. "Come on Spike." Spike didn't reply, except with a loud moan. "Spike?" She looked around and saw Spike on the floor.
"My stomach...I-I think it's all that ice cream. I thought the stomach ache would be future Spike's problem...but now I am future Spike. Ohh..." Twilight and Pinkie giggled as Twilight levitated the dragon onto her back and headed for the door.
Later, back at Ponyville...
Everyone was in Rarity's Boutique, where Twilight was explaining her and Flash's trip to the past. The only ones not there, were Rarity and Flash, who were pre-occupied with something else. As they did this, Iron spoke up, "So let me get this straight," Iron said as he scratched the side of his head in frustration. "So you went back in time to prevent yourself from going crazy with worry about the future, only to end up causing yourself to go crazy with worry and eventually traveling back in time." Twilight nodded. "Ugh...and to think I had to patrol the town for three straight days because of that?! You gotta be kidding..."
"Iron! Don't be mean!" Fluttershy reprimanded him, causing the pony to shrink in his seat. The others gave each other a knowing glance. That is, except a certain filly.
"My head hurts," Scootaloo moaned, rubbing her head with her hooves.
"I agree squirt." Rainbow added, slumping down in her chair.
"Well, that's pretty much it," Twilight sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "I created a quantum loop, with no beginning or end."
"Think of the chicken and the egg," Spike explained for those who did not understand her gibberish.
"So...we went through all that work disaster proofing the town for nothing?" Rainbow asked, hopping back out of her chair. "Really?!"
"Sorry everypony..." Twilight whimpered, now slumping in her chair.
"Aw, don't worry sugarcube," Applejack told her with a pat on the back. "We might not have stopped a disaster, but we did manage to fix a lot of problems that might eventually happen."
"Yeah!" Pinkie cheered with a big smile, "And it was a lot of fun!"
"Yeah...fun." Iron grumbled, shaking his head. "You're all insane."
In that moment, Rarity arrived in the room. "Well everypony, I think my work is done." she said as she trotted up to the table. "And I must say, I believe I did a good job."
"So you managed to return Flash to normal?" Twilight asked.
Rarity did a slight shrug. "Well no....but I did manage to make him look decent." She turned around and called out. "Come on out darling."
A few moments later, Flash entered the room. His black eye was now gone, covered up by make-up, and his crooked nose looked to be on the mend. But the biggest change was that he was now sporting an all new mane style, which was spiked up but not as long as it once was. "Well..." he asked sheepishly. "How's it look?"
The others all stared at him for a moment. He had a feeling they were about to burst out laughing, only to get an audience of smiles.
"You look great bro," Scootaloo assured him.
"I like it," Fluttershy added.
"Same here," Twilight said as she walked up to him. "Sorry about everything I put you through this week."
"Don't worry about it," Flash told her with a wink. "Just promise to not have any more freak-outs for a while."
"Promise," Twilight nodded with a slight blush, causing them all to laugh