//------------------------------// // 15 - The Sweep // Story: Predictions & Prophecies // by Kinrah //------------------------------// Oh dear. This was not good. This was worse than not good. Not good was an understatement. This was terrifying. Never before had three little numbers caused such a panic amongst ponies, especially not an alicorn princess. Six. One. One. When Twilight and Trixie had accidentally used the Iris to travel back from Hoofington 990 to Ponyville 1001, the charm had been… well, basically dead, that last time travel spell draining the last of the magic which admittedly Twilight had thought was already gone. Before that, during the jump which had seen Twilight separated from her friends and given her a rare glimpse inside the ether, the charm had contained an astonishing amount of magic, which no doubt contributed to both the spell’s power and instability. She’d never encountered a charm with that magnitude of power before, and at the time she doubted she would again. Reeds Melody’s version of the Iris contained even more power than that. Trying to use the same scale would be like trying to measure the height of a tornado with a ruler. It was just… so much more, on so many different levels. Doubtless it had been the source of the explosion which had necessitated the move to the Magic Grounding Ward, though it remained a mystery as to why the doctors didn’t identify it as a magical artefact. It refreshed Twilight so much that she thought she’d never need to rest again, a moment of infinite rejuvenation. According to Princess Luna, there was a reason for it having this effect, but the explanation was long and right now, they had much, much more pressing issues to deal with. Could the Princess have done something in the short few seconds before the spell had fired? Possibly, but the shock and surprise of actually finding the charm in the first place had just lasted too long. This time, the travel had been instantaneous. Twilight’s involuntary teleport spell had been increased tenfold, hundredfold, she didn’t know, but it wasn’t unstable and it was uninterrupted. They could have landed anywhere. The discarded news scroll in the alleyway where they did land told the whole horrifying story. CE 611. There would be no waiting this one out. Celestial Era year six hundred and eleven, three hundred and eighty nine years before Nightmare Moon would be released. Twilight wanted to scream. Upon seeing the date, Princess Luna had immediately summoned an illusion over herself, dulling her own magic down and reducing her appearance to that of a normal unicorn. “You should not use the name ‘Luna’ while we are in this time period,” she explained in a hushed tone. There were no ponies visible but you never knew who was listening. “My sister… she will detect an irregularity, so it is best we do not linger here for too long.” At their hooves, Reeds snored again. Now that her sleeping state was the worst possible one to be in, she was showing no signs of waking up any time soon, and her snoring could easily outmatch Spike’s to boot. What a brilliant combination to have wandering around almost four hundred years in the past: a unicorn, an alicorn in disguise whose present self was imprisoned on the moon, a pegasus previously with insomnia now under the effects of one of the most powerful sleeping spells known to ponykind, and a baby dragon, who would draw attention. Seventh century ponies were highly fearful of dragons, even the smaller ones. Perhaps one of the minor blessings was that it was actually nighttime, so a greatly reduced amount of ponies would be out on the streets of… wherever they were. Princess Luna was making a concentrated effort not to look up at the pattern of craters on the moon, though every now and then she’d glance upwards and cringe. Sadness, regret. Her sister had been ruling by herself for over six hundred years. Twilight couldn’t imagine how much she’d want to fly to Canterlot castle and rejoin her. But no. Princess Luna had not appeared, not even briefly, in 611. Neither her name nor her visage would appear for another… six or so years when she would be painted by Stalleonardo da Colton. They had to keep it that way. Okay. Situation: Stuck in 611. Twilight’s magic was stuck on cooldown, still plenty of magic emanating from the Iris but any attempt to touch it by Princess Luna caused a negative reaction in the form of a small shock. Reeds Melody, snoring like a train. Spike, understandably excited but cautious. They couldn’t stay where they were, in case Princess Celestia detected them. Spike had suggested trying to send the Princess a letter through his fire breath, but that idea was shot down quickly. Apart from the temporal confusion that would cause - 611 Celestia would have no idea who the message was from, and 1001 Celestia wouldn’t be able to do anything - they didn’t have any parchment or writing implements. What would they write, anyway? ‘Help, I’m stuck in 611’? …Yeah, it felt really weird having to be on the run from the Princess. As an afterthought, Princess Luna added an additional layer to the illusion spell - period clothes. It took her a few attempts with Twilight’s advice to get the details right - thank you Rarity and all your impromptu historical clothing research - but soon to the casual observer they looked like three almost perfectly citizens of wherever-they-were. Spike, being Spike, would stick out like a sore hoof regardless of what he was dressed in, and as powerful as Princess Luna’s magic was even after the dulling down, she couldn’t summon a baby carriage. Well, hopefully they wouldn’t have to explain him to anypony. So naturally they were immediately accosted the moment they stepped out of the alley. “‘scuse me!” called the yellow earth pony mare, who in a case of extraordinarily bad timing had been looking directly at the alley mouth when they stepped out onto the cobblestones. “What were you doin’ in that alley there? An’ is that gal alright?” Twilight didn’t know exactly what she had been expecting but she hadn’t been expecting the accent; she had to fight not to stare in curiosity. In 611 the main Equestrian language had been Middle Equestrian, the language had evolved from Old Equestrian but it hadn’t quite reached modern Equuish. Middle Equestrian she actually knew how to translate, not flawlessly, but when reading it she had a pretty firm grip on what was being said. Saying that, she was pretty sure that no part of Equestria, then or now, spoke with what sounded like a mixture between Trottingham, Manehattan, and Appleoosa. “Um, she’s fine! (Is there a translation spell in effect?)” she added towards the Princess, who nodded subtly. “(I included it as I was certain such an event would occur.)” Behind them, Spike ducked back into the alley. “She don’t look so fine.” The mare took a few steps towards them and craned her neck. “You sure ‘bout that? ‘s a dangerous time to out ‘n’ about, ‘specially lurkin’ in alleyways.” Think of an excuse… “Our friend, she…” Twilight looked at Reeds, who was slumped over the Princess’s back having what was probably the most peaceful night’s sleep she’d had in ages. “…she’s prone to sleeping fits. We were just taking a shortcut, and, uh…” Apparently this was a well enough crafted excuse to satisfy the mare, who nodded knowlingly. “Ah. I feel ya. Old Mrs Peach’s son drops off at the most awkward times.” Beat. Her eyes squinted at them. “Wait a tick. I don’ recognize yer accents. Where’re ya from?” The Princess stepped forward. “Forgive my sister’s rudeness. I am called Moonshine, this is my sister Starshine and our acquaintance Wind Song. We are visiting here from Canterlot.” A slight rattle from behind them announced the fact that Spike had found a box and had poked some eye holes in it. In the meanwhile, Twilight was rapidly trying to process a) her new alias of ‘Starshine,’ b) Princess Luna’s choice of alias ‘Moonshine’ and c) the fact that, even if it was only as a cover, she was being referred to as Princess Luna’s sister. It was very jarring. “Ah, I see, I see.” The mare nodded knowingly again. “Big city folk. Don’t see too many of you unicorns down here. Well, the name’s Daffodil, Raven’s Town born ‘n’ raised. Nice meetin’ ya.” “Likewise.” Raven’s Town? Mentally, Twilight tried to run through her database of 7th century towns and what she remembered from a past mild interest in her friends’ genealogy. Raven’s Town, Raven’s Town… it wasn’t ringing a bell, maybe it was a local nickname. And no, nothing she’d found out about her friends’ ancestors even went back this far, so she wouldn’t be able to tell if she was talking face to face with a pony directly related to any of them. A pair of names, neither of which meant anything. Did that in itself mean anything? Probably not. On the Princess’s back, Reeds groaned in her sleep, and let rip a particularly deafening snore. They really needed to get going. “Well,” Twilight said brightly, “thanks for the concern, but R- Wind Song is going to be fine. She’ll wake up. Eventually. We’d better get going though, right, uh, Moonshine?” Princess Luna nodded. “Yes. It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Daffodil, but we must be on our way.” Daffodil reached up and brushed her mane, as if doffing an imaginary hat. “Th’ same. You stay safe now, ‘n’ get that friend of yours someplace warm! ‘s a strange evenin’ tonight.” No kidding. “I was hoping we could avoid such contact,” Princess Luna muttered, as they, carrying Reeds and Spike-in-a-box, started walking away, and Daffodil meandered in the opposite direction. “Twilight Sparkle, how long did your magic take to recover previously?” Twilight ran through the night in Hoofington in her head. Walking to the town, walking through the town, investigating the Flim Flam brothers’ machine and then the entire debacle with the Ursa… it had to have taken at least a couple of hours. Whether this time around would be affected by just how far they’d gone back in time, they would have to wait and see. She relayed this information to the alicorn/unicorn, who sighed, knowing it could not be helped. Held in Twilight’s magical grip, Spike’s eyes appeared at the hole in the box. “So where exactly is ‘Raven’s Town’?” “Certainly a good question,” commented the Princess. “Do you know of it?” she asked of Twilight, who shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. It’s probably a local nickname.” Unlike when she’d been in the forest and in Hoofington with Trixie, this time there were a myriad of different directions to choose from and no pony to guide them. Even if they were able to identify what town they were actually in, there was no guarantee that the same landmarks and streets existed between their current time period and the present. Some of Canterlot’s streets wouldn’t have changed, but they plainly weren’t in Canterlot. What they needed was a vantage point, or a key town location, a market square, a public building, something like that. And while she was thinking about it, off the top of her head, what was the general status of Equestria at the beginning of the 7th century? Two hundred years since the last worldwide event, farmland where Ponyville would later be founded had just started being farmed, the town of Yoke had recently burned down from the eleventh time… well, this place certainly wasn’t Yoke, for sure. If the records had been correct, there was barely a moment at this point in history when that town wasn’t on fire. There were a fair share of torches around, sure, but they were very conspicuously being kept clear of flammable material. Oh, and another thing; that pony, Daffodil, had reacted to the half-truth that they’d come down from Canterlot as if it was normal, which meant that the capital wasn’t too far away. Merchants might make the trip from coast to coast, but tourism wasn’t as big a thing as it would later become. A town, nicknamed Raven’s Town, within reasonable distance of Canterlot. It just wasn’t coming to her. The roads were sloping upward. That meant a hill, and that meant better views. They were heading in a good direction, at least. Climbing the remaining distance to the summit didn’t take long, and from behind the houses Canterlot mountain rose, the moon somewhat above it, placing it somewhere to the east of them. West of Canterlot, west of Canterlot… what town was west of Canterlot? Trottingham? No… “Mmmmf,” commented Reeds, unexpectedly sliding off the Princess’s back. “S’oky I’ll look afrit fyu.” ‘It’s okay, I’ll look after it for you’? Sleep talking? Twilight and Princess Luna exchanged a glance. “That is most strange,” the Princess said, after a moment’s pause. “The level of sleep gifted by Somnnia should be far too deep to allow sleep talking.” This was probably a bad time to make a pat diagnosis, and Reeds’ prior condition was hardly the most pressing thing on their minds, but Twilight had to at least get the ball rolling. “Have you ever encountered a spell or anything that would disrupt sleeping magic?” The Princess shook her head. “Never. It is nigh impossible to disrupt such magic. Even if some effect were to alter the sleep state, the shock should cause the sleeper to wake instantly.” So much for that idea, then. They probably should have asked what she was doing before she’d come down with super-insomnia. It was going to be pretty ridiculous if it turned out that she’d been on a coffee marathon or something. Oh no, what if it turned out to be Phruit Phizz? No, she had to stop thinking about this. The topic had to be put on the backburner. If she woke up this would be much easier to explain to other ponies they might meet. Not all of them might be so readily accepting as Daffodil had been— A point of light appeared at Canterlot castle. “Celestia is awake. We cannot linger.” Even worse news then. Stuck in the past, anonymous town, sleeping pony, dragon in a box, and a powerful alicorn who might be coming to investigate soon. Perfect! How could this possibly get any worse? Moments later, as they descended from the hill and were too preoccupied to notice the stallion they crashed into, Twilight realized that might have been a bad question to ask. When the dust had settled, the stallion, who’d ended up upside down against a house wall by the side of the road, shook his head. “Good grief.” “(Ow,)” came Spike’s muffled voice. “Ifnyr keepdntht yrgnna breakit,” offered Reeds. For goodness’ sake, they were supposed to be trying not to make an impact on the past! Twilight picked herself up, dusted herself off, and headed straight over to assist the poor pony they’d knocked over. “I’m sorry, that was our fault, we weren’t looking where we were going.” “Ah, no worries ‘bout it,” he said, accepting her offer of an outstretched hoof to help him up. “I reckon that was prob’ly my fault for standin’ around like a lemon. Is… your pegasus friend…?” Before Twilight could say anything, Reeds decided to answer instead by letting out a snore that put her previous outbursts to shame. “Oh my.” “Heh, yeah…” Twilight laughed nervously. “She does that.” From a pile of hay on the other side of the street, Princess Luna emerged. “That was most unpleasant. Starshine, we must not dally.” Right. No time to stand around chatting. “Yes, sorry again, but we’re in a bit of a rush… obviously.” Twilight’s horn sparked, but she was able to summon enough levitation to pick Reeds up and lay her across her back. “It’s late and we need to get to… uh…” “…we are staying in the vicinity of the market square,” supplied her disguised ‘sister’, picking up Spike’s box. “Do try to keep up, Starshine.” “Uh, yes, Moonshine…” “Oh, well then.” The stallion picked up his own box, which had gone flying in the impact. “Don’ let me hold ya up then, gals. This delivery ain’t that urgent.” Encounter number two had been a little more painful but at least it hadn’t lasted as long. The fewer ponies they could get away with meeting, the better. Like that; if they’d interrupted an important delivery which arrived a few moments later than it had before the time travel had become involved, that could mean the difference between a pony making a discovery or meeting their life partner or… a skipped pebble would become a tsunami. For want of a nail… “Where are we actually going to go?” she asked the Princess, as they moved, not too fast but purposefully, down the street. “Just as far as we have to before my magic recharges?” It was well on the way, evidenced by her ability to levitate a napping pony, but it was still nowhere near powerful enough to use the Iris to return to the present. A moment of panic passed as she realized she hadn’t got the charm on her, but then she relaxed when she remembered she’d seen Spike holding onto it tightly. He knew how important that was, and he wouldn’t let them down. “That is the plan, yes.” Okay then. Bearing in mind they didn’t actually know where the market square was, they couldn’t really go there if they wanted to. “You hear that, Spike?” Silence. Princess Luna stopped, and looked back at the box. “Spike…?” Nothing. Oh, hayfeathers. Panic time again. Twilight pried open the box and her heart sank. No dragon, no Iris. The box was packed full of blank books. She cast a glance towards the Princess. “Can I scream now?” The disguised alicorn bit her lip. “That delivery pony must have been transporting these books, and picked up Spike when we crashed into him. We have no choice but to find him before the delivery is completed.” How far had they come since the scene of the accident? Far enough for the pony to have picked up what he thought was his box and walk off with it. Now they would have to run, all the while trying not to drop Reeds. With a great exhalation, Princess Luna closed her eyes and concentrated. “I am able to detect faint traces of magic coming from the Iris,” she reported. “He went in this direction, but we must make haste.” As they began galloping, Twilight realized that, whether through trying to keep up the illusion of Moonshine or just on her own, Princess Luna had stopped making old language mistakes by slipping into using the Royal ‘We’. Maybe all she needed was a bit of a push. If she didn’t know better, she’d suspect the diarch was enjoying this. For a delivery that supposedly wasn’t urgent, that stallion had really hoofed it. A box of blank books… was he delivering to a scholar, or a writer? It could really be anypony; in these days blank books really weren’t expensive at all. Whoever it was would be getting a real surprise if they didn’t manage to swap the boxes back before they opened their delivery. Expecting books and receiving a baby dragon holding a super-powerful magical charm? That would cause more than a shock, that would be cause for an entire company of the Royal Guard to drop on the town. He was certainly taking what seemed like a circuitous route… Wait, there he was! Just disappearing around a corner ahead. Glad for Princess Luna’s tracking, Twilight increased her pace, keeping as tight a hold as she could on Reeds with her magic. We’re coming, Spike, hold on, just a few more… She turned the corner, and skidded to a halt. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!” Whether by chance or fate, they’d found the town’s market square, which was unexpectedly busy for this time of night, mostly with ponies packing up their stalls. Raven’s Town, wherever it was, must operate with loose market times. More than half the ponies were carrying identical boxes. The stallion had already disappeared into the throng. “This is most unfortunate…” said Princess Luna. “Snrrrrrrrk,” added Reeds Melody. There was no way of knowing if the delivery pony had given the box to somepony else, and as Princess Luna then admitted the trace of magic the Iris was giving off wasn’t actually strong enough to pinpoint its exact location, even if it wasn’t being muddied by the magic being used by a few unicorns in the square. They’d just have to surge through, and hope either the Princess located it or Spike found some way to signal them. He was smart enough to do that. He’d trust that they were on the way to find him. So much for making contact with as few ponies as possible… “Excuse me!” “I beg your pardon.” “Coming through!” “Forgive my sister’s brashness…” “Hey, is that gal okay?” “Snnnnnrrrrrrk.” “Okay, nev’rmind.” “(Anything?)” “(We are closer but the trace is not clear enough.)” Don’t let panic set in, keep calm, collected, focus on your goal… Twilight tried to picture the Iris, and the unique magic that had flooded through her when it had transported them. Relaxing, rejuvenating… she stopped, and clamped her eyes shut. The prophecy from the Meditation Chamber bubbled to the forefront of her mind. Life-bearing. Everything assaulting her senses died away, the hubbub of the marketplace, the smells of poor hygiene, the worn cobblestones beneath her hooves. All she wanted to see, all she needed to see, all she saw… was the magic. A trail, clear as day, that wound past them and disappeared towards the main street on the other side of the square. “This way!” Even she was impressed by the speed she put up as the trail left the square, and the ease with which she moved through the crowds. Call her crazy, but it felt like the trail of restoration magic was channeling itself through her and making the other ponies… flow around her, for lack of a better word. Oh, if only she had the time to examine all of this. But at that very moment, her mind was set on locating Spike and the Iris. Just the delivery pony would be a start. Just as long as they found him before he made the delivery. Otherwise all they’d find at the end of the trail would be a scream. So when she and Princess Luna rounded a corner and saw the stallion, minus box, saunter away around another corner whistling, Twilight almost collapsed. The magic trail ended at a door. It was too late. “Do not be quick to assume, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna said, trotting towards the house in particular, which itself was nothing they hadn’t seen already in the town. “The recipient may not have opened it yet. We can still perform an exchange.” Right… they still had a chance. It was rapidly fading, but it was there. Making sure Reeds was still secure on her back, Twilight hurried to catch up to her companion at the door. Princess Luna knocked. Rat-a-tat-tat. Come on, come on… There was the sound of something being knocked over from within, but no screams, so Spike hadn’t been discovered yet… Then a click as the door was unlocked, and it creaked open. Most of the Raven’s Town inhabitants had been dressed simply, nothing too fancy, just what Rarity would call plain and utilitarian. High fashion hadn’t become a popular thing yet outside of the major cities. Given that they were in the past it shouldn’t have been surprising, but the stallion who answered the door was decked in exactly what Twilight would expect a seventh century scribe installment in a museum to look like. Most definitely an occupation which would require books and scrolls. “Ah,” he said, which was rather anticlimactic. “I suppose you must be Starshine and Moonshine. You had better come in.” Twilight and the Princess shared a concerned glance before accepting the offer and entering. Again, the interior of the house was detail for detail what she’d read about in books and seen in museums. Same sort of construction as modern day village houses, but with less reliance on magic. Candles were burning. There was a fire lit in the fireplace. It had a very homey atmosphere. Scattered around (but not too close to the fires) were various books and scrolls, haphazardly strewn around floors and tables. A table carried several quills and bottles of ink. It was the sort of place Twilight could very easily live in, if only it were tidier. She was having to fight the urge to organize everything. “You appear to have us at a disadvantage,” acknowledged Princess Luna, nodding. “May I ask how you know our names?” The unicorn stallion’s eyes went wide and he bowed, flushing profusely. “Forgive my manners. My name is Sweeping Stroke, clerk to Raven’s Town council. And, uh…” he inclined his head towards another wooden table further into the house upon which Spike sat, waving sheepishly, the Iris very poorly concealed behind his back. “I believe he’s… yours?” Even with the need to be secretive, Twilight couldn’t help herself, and darted forward to nuzzle him. Forgotten about, Reeds slumped off her back with another snore. “Spike!” Behind her, the Princess exhaled. Finally, a point in their favor. But, then, who was this Sweeping Stroke, and why hadn’t he panicked upon opening his package to find a baby dragon? Twilight turned to look at him, now making a sudden hurried effort to make his dwelling a bit more presentable. A silver unicorn, with an almost carefully cut white mane, an inkbrush as his cutie mark. For some reason Twilight was reminded of one of Ponyville’s residents, amateur musical composer Royal Riff. Maybe this pony was Riff’s ancestor. That didn’t explain the absence of panic, though. Pausing only to move back and adjust Reeds into a more comfortable position, Twilight cleared her throat. Sweeping Stroke flinched. “Um, yes?” “Thanks for not, um…” what would be an appropriate term? “…freaking out when you saw Spike.” The stallion gave a short laugh, and propped up the broom he’d dropped. “I have seen far stranger things than a dragon in a box. Believe me when I say that opening my delivery to find a passenger is not something I find odd any more.” He paused, and rubbed his chin. “You didn’t happen to walk away with, ah…” For a moment, Twilight didn’t catch on, but a cough from the Princess drew her attention. “I believe you are looking for this,” she said, levitating over… oh, the box of books. Of course. “Yes, ah, thank you.” Sweeping Stroke opened the box and quickly assessed its contents. “Good, it appears undamaged. Your friend told me about the incident in which he and my package were exchanged, and suggested that you would be a short distance behind.” “Eh, I knew they’d come find me,” put in Spike, putting his hands behind his head and pretending to look nonchalant about the whole thing. “You guys wouldn’t just leave me here.” How could they? If any of their number got left behind… well, to be brutally honest, it was really only Reeds Melody and Twilight who would suffer from being stuck in the past. Princess Luna could easily live out another four hundred years - though she probably wouldn’t survive psychologically - and dragons tended to live for several centuries, so Spike would merely be older. Either all of them went back, or… Pessimism was taking hold again. She had to stop thinking about that. Her magic would recharge and she would get them all back to the time where they belonged. With every second that passed she could feel more of her magic returning. It was only a matter of time. If they stuck together, they would be fine. The ponies of 611 and the ponies of 1001 would separate. One question remained there, though: How actually to get them to the future? Would it be as simple as casting the time-travel spell whilst holding on to the Iris? Or would she be forced to use Prophetia yet again to fold the future closer to them? Their journey to 611 had practically been cast for them. Thinking on that point, when had she intentionally cast a spell with the intention of timetraveling over the course of the events? The mine 1001 to the forest 990 had been caused by her own residual magic. That sort of made sense…? But it still hadn’t been intentional. The forest 990 to the mine 1001 again… she quickly reviewed her thought-journal. She’d speculated that the temporary nature of the time-travel spell had been responsible for that. There was a chance that the same would happen this time, too. There were a couple of problems with that, though; first was whether the distance into the past traveled directly correlated with the amount of time before the snap-back. Ten years had been a couple of hours. At the same scale that would give them a few days in 611 which they wanted to avoid at all costs. Second was the fact that she hadn’t actually cast the time travel spell this time around. She hadn’t cast anything at all. Ponyville 1001 to Canterlot 990 had been Prophetia with the added jump of possibly magical lightning. Unintentional travel. Canterlot 990 to Hoofington 990 had been pure luck. She’d made a snap decision and Prophetia’s energy had still been around long enough to enable the teleport over the gap. Hoofington 990 to Ponyville 1001 was… under the control of the Iris, she’d previously suspected. Was it able to detect that she and Trixie didn’t belong in that time period? But then that would directly contradict the sixth jump, Canterlot 1001 to Raven’s Town 611, which again had been fueled by the Iris. It had plucked them from where they belonged and dropped them where they didn’t, the exact opposite. That said, though, the home journey had been an Iris using up the last traces of its magic. This Iris, whether a past version or an alternate version or whatever, was still full and waiting for the command. “Can I offer you two— three— uh, four, a drink?” Sweeping Stroke’s voice broke Twilight out of her stewing. “I’m afraid I can only offer water.” Um… Twilight shot a glance towards Princess Luna. Did they have time for something like that before Princess Celestia arrived on the scene? Moonshine responded with a slow nod. They couldn’t keep running for the whole time while Twilight’s magic was recharging. Hopefully it would take Princess Celestia longer to navigate the town than it had taken the two of them. In the other direction, Spike gave a thumbs up. It would do none of them any good to get dehydrated. “Yes, please.” On the floor, Reeds stirred but didn’t wake. “But only three. Our friend, she…” All of them looked down at the prone pegasus. “Yes, I see,” said Sweeping Stroke, nodding. “A slumber so deep the sleeper is lost in the world of dreams. We can only wish to experience such peace of mind.” He gathered three flagons. “Drinks will be but a moment.” Dreams. Even as the clerk had said the word Princess Luna looked like she’d been slapped in the face. Reeds Melody was asleep. Asleep and she had been sleeptalking. Sleeptalking implied dreaming. And if she was dreaming, that meant… With the opportunity afforded by their host stepping away to use the water pump, Twilight sidled up to her ‘sister’. “(Could you do it?)” she whispered. “(Could you enter Reeds’ dream and heal her bleed?)” “(It…)” for the first time since they’d arrived in the past, Princess Luna looked visibly unsure. “(…I… yes. I could do it. However… we would be telegraphing our position to my sister.)” The solution, the catch, both going hoof in hoof as they always did. Solve Reeds Melody’s problem, risk getting caught by Princess Celestia in a temporal paradox. Play it safe and avoid attracting her attention any further, given the difficulty with which she’d fallen asleep in the first place, there was a chance that Somnnia would fail to work on Reeds again when they returned to the future. Arguably getting caught by Princess Celestia was worse, as there was no way to tell what would result from such a paradox occurring. That said… They pondered the thought as Sweeping Stroke distributed the water to them. Princess Luna’s magical signature would be impossible to hide; as an alicorn, it was immediately identifiable. Between Princess Luna’s banishment and the ascendance of Princess Cadance in 987, Princess Celestia was the only alicorn in Equestria. If she were to sense that an alicorn were present here, now, everything in the future would be turned on its head. “You must have seen some pretty strange things if a baby dragon doesn’t faze you,” Twilight commented, setting her flagon down. “Aren’t they worried that a dragon might be the cause of Yoke’s latest fire?” It was an obscure fact she recalled as she was thinking about the subject of dragons in this part of history. Sweeping Stroke set his own flagon down too. “You’re well informed. I won’t lie when I say that Raven’s Town is concerned that a dragon may take offense and cause a great deal of damage. Uh, but your friend seems civil enough.” Both of them looked at Spike, who was practically drowning himself. Civil? Yeah… “Anyway, yes. It would be unfair to say I’ve seen everything, today’s experience can challenge that, but there are a great many things I’ve witnessed that most would think impossible.” The stallion lifted his flagon again and drank. “After I met a mare who could fly simply by spinning her tail and a griffon who could use magic, I came to accept that there are some things in this world that just defy explanation.” “A griffon who could use magic?” Twilight echoed. That couldn’t be right! There were no records at all in modern times of any griffons being able to use any kind of magic besides passively! “Are you sure?” Oh, she wished she had a notebook or something… “Summoned fire from her clawtips, I jest you not.” He paused to take another drink. “I never thought a clerk’s life would be so interesting. I only wanted to be a writer. Um, excuse me. I’m sure you don’t want to hear all this. Just blurting out my life’s story to some strangers… I don’t know what I was thinking.” “Hey, it’s interesting to me,” commented Spike, having now already emptied his flagon completely. “Sounds exciting!” Twilight couldn’t help but agree. “Adventure always seems to be where we least expect it.” Their host set his flagon aside again. “To be honest, I’m not entirely enamored with the idea of seeking out adventures. Just a sensible life would be fine for me.” “Pinkie Pie would like a word with you,” Spike said, before Twilight could shush him. “Pinkie who…?” “Another friend of ours,” Twilight said quickly, almost too quickly. “She’d say something like…” what was a very Pinkie Pie thing to say in this sort of situation? Oh, right. “Like, ‘If you alone can keep your head whilst others around are losing theirs, you really need to lighten up.’” “That…” Sweeping Stroke rubbed his chin again. “That’s good, actually. I’m going to write that one down.” Before Twilight could object, he grabbed one of the blank books from the box, a bottle of ink and a quill, and quickly scratched the phrase down on the back page. “Ah, good. These are exactly the sort of books I was after. The ink doesn’t run, see?” He lifted up the book to show them that indeed the ink was already dry. “It’s hard to get books of this quality these days.” Okay, so they’d just injected some Pinkie Pie philosophy into the past. That probably wouldn’t cause any harm… right? It wasn’t really any worse than what they’d already been doing, as long as Pinkie hadn’t come across that phrase written down anywhere in the first place. Sad as it was, Twilight hadn’t come across any books written by Sweeping Stroke in any of her library trawls. Just another pony consigned to the backpages of history. “If you don’t mind me asking…” Sweeping Stroke said after a while, “I’m afraid I don’t quite recognize your accents.” Finally, something that had an easy answer. Twilight launched into the explanation they’d given Daffodil. “We’re visitors from Canterlot.” Hearing that, the stallion furrowed his brow. “I don’t mean to pry, but… I was in Canterlot not too long ago, and I’m sure that I didn’t hear anypony speak in the same manner that you do. And I’m fairly sure that the existence of a baby dragon in the capital would be a common talking point, only… I’ve not heard anything about such a thing.” Busted. It probably gave the game away that both mares and dragon choked on their water at the same moment. “Ah— well—” Twilight was floundering for something, anything to say. “It’s a secluded corner of the city, uh, we don’t get out much…” “Y-yeah, what she said!” affirmed Spike, deferring to Twilight’s strapped imagination. “I don’t see that many other ponies, really…” Princess Luna closed her eyes and remained silent. “Why bring him to Raven’s Town, then?” the clerk pressed. “I apologize, but I would rather know the truth of the strangers I’ve invited into my home.” “Uh… I, uh… um…” Twilight’s imagination flatlined. She was completely out of plausible excuses. “We should probably go…” Abruptly, Princess Luna stood up. “We will tell you the truth.” “We will?!” What was she— “But you must make me a solemn promise, Sweeping Stroke.” Moonshine’s eyes were alive with Princess Luna’s ferocity. “What you hear from us in this room you must never repeat to another pony. Ever. It is a secret you must keep for the rest of your life, and dire consequences will occur if you relate any of the knowledge we are about to tell you.” She wasn’t even the one being talked to and Twilight felt the need to flatten her ears and shrink back, just as Sweeping Stroke actually did. You did not say no to a tone like that. Still, she was glad that she hadn’t been the one to make that decision. She just hoped Princess Luna knew what she was doing. Could they really trust this pony? “I— I promise.” The stallion’s posture was nervous, but his eyes never averted themselves. “I swear upon Princess Celestia.” “Very well.” The Princess stepped back, and her horn lit up. “Starshine, I am proceeding. I suggest you use the Iris to mask my magical signature for as long as possible.” Use the Iris…? But… Twilight retrieved the crystal from where Spike had hidden it, and once more the rejuvenating magic washed through her. If the Princess thought she could use it, then she probably could do something with it, she was familiar with the charm and seemed to know its capabilities. Okay, Iris, she thought, staring intently at the web of the charm’s outer matrices. It was all her horn could summon up, she had to hope it was enough. Let’s see what you can do. With a soft humming, its glow intensified. Just a few… ah! Uselessly, she tried to blink away the Old Equestrian that was writing across her eyeballs. It certainly hadn’t done this the last time. Not that she could read any of it, it was going by far too quickly to translate. Once again she was messing with magic she didn’t understand. Concentrating on the rapid lettering almost made her miss the Princess’s next instruction. “Will it to hide us.” Seemed easy enough. Iris, hide us. For a moment, nothing happened, and Twilight had a sinking feeling her magic wasn’t strong enough. Then— “Ah!” What had been feeling like a warm bath suddenly turned ice-cold, and though she retained her magic, she could have sworn she was back in the Magic Grounding Ward again. Hollow. She’d used that word to describe the MGW, and it was the same feeling she now felt. Gone was the rejuvenation, no longer a tool of healing, but a tool of stealth. Poor Sweeping Stroke had been thrown in at the deep end, and he looked between the two unicorns, his expression ranging between bewilderment, fear and curiosity. Spike was staring at the lightshow the Iris was producing, his mouth agape. Only Princess Luna seemed unfazed, and she knelt down to where Reeds Melody lay on the floor. Wait, no, were they going to— “Now…” she said, extending a hoof to gently caress Reeds’ head. “We begin.”