//------------------------------// // Twilight miscalculated // Story: Tempora mutantur // by Tallow and Port //------------------------------// “Discord!” Fluttershy yelped as she ducked under a rampaging pillow, down belching from its rip of a mouth in an imitation of fire. “What?” The draconequus asked, turning from where he was currently engaged in an epic battle with a feather duster and spork. The yellow pegasus released a quiet sigh to steady her temper before gently replying “I know you need to cause chaos because it helps balance the worlds and such... but would it really be so inconvenient to maybe, I don’t know, take it outside? Just a little bit?” “Oh, fine,” Discord relented, swan diving into the floor and swimming out the door “honestly, the restrictions these ponies place on good fun!” Fluttershy let out a breath before sitting down in exhaustion “Oh, Angel, the god of chaos sure can be a handful, can’t he?” The aforementioned rabbit growled in agreement as he tried to pull his foot from the once more solid floorboards. “Oh dear, l-let me help you with that.” She hadn’t even noticed a purple light start gathering into a ball behind her as she worked. And she certainly didn’t have time to hear Discord running back into the house with a cry of warning on his lips. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: “Criminal, Fire breeze, inbound. Prepare to intercept” the lead pegasus called, adjusting his flight path to begin a steep dive. “Roger!” Rainbow Dash shouted along with the three other squad members. As they dove towards the target, an orange and blue pegasus carrying a stolen red diamond, Rainbow couldn’t help wondering why Fire Streak was shouting at her, he should know that at this speed, sound was rendered nonexistent! However, she never got the chance to signal her lack of comprehension as a ball of purple magic engulfed her. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: “Is it not simply gorgeous?!” Rarity swooned, stepping back from her masterpiece in awe. A smooth, ghost white dress with navy blue trim and dozens of tiny cuts of gem that, when catching the light, would make it look like an artwork fit for the night sky, stood before her. “It sure is” Sweetie Belle breathed, marvelling at the dress from over the top of her music stand. “Oh, I can’t wait to present it to princess Luna! Oh, do you think she’ll like it? Oh no, what if she HATES it?!” Rarity was in the middle of a dramatic gasp when she disappeared quite suddenly due to a flash of purple light. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: “Naw what in the hey do y’all think yer doin’?” Applejack accused, trotting up to a frozen Applebloom and Scootaloo. “We weren’t doin’ anythang, big sis. Ah swear!” Her little sister fretted after spitting something out of her mouth. “Uh huh, And that there lump of seeds wasn’t just in yer mouth right then and there, I dare to presume?” The orange mare continued, raising an eyebrow in challenge. “We weren’t gonna do anything bad with them, honest!” Scootaloo piped up, fluttering her wings in a sign of nervousness. “Right, and ahm sure that was a totally honest word ya just spoke to me?” Applejack pressed on. “Ahlright, ahlright! We were takin’ ‘em to Zecora! Cen we please go naw?” Applebloom gave in, staring up at her sister with big eyes and her ears pressed back against her head. Applejack sighed, gosh darn those puppy eyes to the sun “alraht, but only because you were so honest with me.” But just as the two fillies began to cheer, a flash of purple light whisked the older pony away somewhere. ::::::::::::::::::::: And, there! The cake was complete and pinkie pie couldn’t be happier about it. “Oh my Celestia, it’s perfect!” She cried, scooping up a toothless reptile to show her masterpiece to “don’t ya think, Gummy?” Gummy blinked slowly. Pinkie giggle “I know, right?!” Suddenly, her hair deflated and the balloons of her cutie mark all burst and then rebuilt themselves “ooo~ that’s a new one! I wonder what this pinkie sense means!” Gummy jumped from her grip and she disappeared in a purple flash. ::::::::::::::::::::::: “Ok, spike, let’s do this!” Twilight declared, pacing around the map room of her home. “Yes, ma’am,” spike declared, before pausing “are you sure this is a good idea?” “Absolutely, spike, I’ve done so much research and preparation for this that even I’m sick and tired of it, and I love research!” She exclaimed. “I don’t know about this, Twilight, you know how badly it almost went the last time we-well-I messed with time travel” Starlight Glimmer piped up from the sidelines. “Oh, relax, Starlight. It’s not like I’m physically going back in time-erm, this time,” Twilight winced at her own choice of words before regaining her confidence “but with the adjustments I’ve made to this spell, I’ll be able to view the events of the past! I’ll be able to get a firsthoof view of what life was like back then!” She gasped in delight “I might even be able to spot a few pieces of history that we missed, and then make my own history book!” “Right, um, yeah, ok, I’ll leave you to it, then. Scream if you need me, Spike” Starlight sighed in defeat, trotting out of the room. “Will do!” Spike called after her. “Remind me again, how you hope to get this spell working?” He queried. “I’m going to use the elements of harmony to power the spell, whilst I use my own magic to balance it and pick the time period I wish to study” the alicorn stated. “And, um, what do you intend to study first?” The dragon continued to press. “Oh, don’t be silly, Spike! You know perfectly well what I intend to study first!” Twilight grinned before her horn lit up with magenta pink magic. “A-and that would be?” Spike stuttered, dread starting to weigh down in his stomach. “Why, The first alicorns to exist, of course!” And then she cast her spell. Everything flashed purple in front of her eyes and she lost her smile. Something had gone terribly wrong. And she suspected that whatever happened next wouldn’t be exactly what she’d hoped for.