Twilight Sparkle trotted into her throne room with quills, inkwells, parchment, and a large stack of books hovering right behind her. As she entered, she used her magic to turn on the Golden Oak chandelier, which quickly illuminated the whole room with a warm glow. The young princess then placed her items on the Cutie Map while seating herself on her throne.
"Here you go, Twilight!" Spike strolled into the throne room with a gorgeous, amethyst-colored tea set and tray in his claws. He gently placed it on the central table, then lifted the teapot to pour some of its contents into a cute little teacup. Twilight inhaled gently as the aroma reached her nose.
"Mmm, it smells amazing," commented Twilight. "Is this a new blend?"
"That's right! I bought this Earl Grey from Tea Biscuit at the market today," answered Spike.
"Her tea is always the best," smiled Twilight. "She never disappoints, and I don't think her perfect streak is going to end today!" Twilight levitated her teacup and brought it up towards her. The warm steam gently brushed against her muzzle, inviting her even closer. She then placed her lips on the edge and slowly tilted the teacup...
Suddenly, a white light started flashing a few feet away from Twilight and her assistant. Twilight placed her teacup back down on the table as she watched magical sparks fly out in all directions. Spike quickly hid behind Twilight, peeking from behind her back leg while trembling. Small bolts of lightning formed around the anomaly, causing the two of them to shield their eyes from the brightness. Finally, the light dissipated. Twilight and Spike carefully looked back at where the light came from, gasping at the sight before them.
An exact copy of Twilight lay on the floor, panting desperately while gazing up at the duo. Twilight - the original one - and Spike stared back at her. After a few seconds, the original Twilight decided to speak up.
"Who... are you?" she asked. As the duplicate slowly stood up, she took notice of the tea Twilight was about to drink. Gasping, she quickly dashed over to the teacup, inspecting it carefully.
"Did you drink this tea yet!?" interrogated the other Twilight.
"N-no! Not yet," answered Twilight shakily.
"Good. Don't."
"But why not? And more importantly, who are you!?" demanded Twilight.
"I am you from the future. Specifically, I am you twenty-one hours from now."
"Wait, you only traveled a few hours into the past?" asked Spike.
"Correct," confirmed Future Twilight.
"Wait, wait, wait," stopped Twilight. "Didn't I-we promise ourselves that we wouldn't worry about the future again, let alone travel back in time to warn myself about future events?"
"Well, you see, this is kind of an urgent matter. In nineteen hours, Princess Celestia is going to call you over for an emergency meeting," explained Future Twilight. "However, you will fail to make it to the meeting on time because you will be suffering from a stomachache. As you may have guessed, the tea is what causes your stomachache. By the time you arrive in Canterlot, the emergency meeting will be over! So whatever you do... Don't. Drink. The tea!"
"An emergency meeting!?" exclaimed Spike. "What's the meeting going to be about? Is it a surprise attack? Or zombies?? Or a surprise zombie attack??? Is Equestria doomed????" Spike started biting his claws nervously while shivering and sweating.
"Actually, it's about plans for Luna's upcoming birthday party," said Future Twilight.
...
Silence filled the room. Future Twilight stared at Past (relative to her time) Spike and Twilight with a serious stare as if what she had just said wasn't completely absurd or idiotic. Spike and Twilight, on the other hoof, looked at Future Twilight with what could only be described as utter disappointment.
"You mean to tell me..." began Twilight, "that in twenty-one hours, I am going to travel into the past, which, by the way, is something I promised myself I would never ever do again, just because I have a tummy ache and missed a meeting about a birthday party!?"
"Yes, and it's all because of that tea," said Future Twilight, pointing at the innocent-looking cup of Earl Grey.
"How in the name of Celestia did you even travel back in time again!?" asked an incredulous Twilight.
"Oh, there's another time spell hidden in this book here." Future Twilight pulled out a book from the stack Twilight had brought in earlier and flipped to a page somewhere in the middle. "Turns out Starswirl made dozens of different time spells. Wonder why he made so many..."
Twilight read through the time spell, skimming over its instructions. "So... this one has unlimited uses, but you can only travel back to one point in time?"
"Exactly."
"AND YOU USED IT ON A STOMACHACHE!"
"Hey, you haven't experienced the stomachache yet!" retorted Future Twilight. "Trust me, you do not want to go through what I went through."
"Ugh, fine, whatever!" shouted Twilight. "Just to ensure that your trip to the past wasn't a total waste of time, I won't drink the tea. You happy now!?"
"Yes, yes, I am."
"Good! Now go back to your own time!"
However, before Future Twilight could do or say anything, another white orb of light formed in the room. Just like last time, sparks flew and lightning flashed all around before it all faded away. And sure enough, just like last time, there was another Twilight in the room.
"Twilight! Err, whichever one of you hasn't time-traveled yet," said the new Twilight. "Drink the tea!"
"What!? Who are you?" asked Present Twilight.
"I'm you from the future, except I'm from twenty-five hours from now."
Present Twilight facehoofed and groaned. "You time-traveled again!?"
"Yes, because it is imperative that you drink your Earl Grey!"
"I thought I'm not supposed to drink the tea!"
"Yeah, what about our stomachache?" inquired the first Future Twilight.
"Turns out the stomachache was caused by the breakfast burrito we ate this morning," sighed the second Future Twilight. "Those eggs did not sit well..."
The first Twilight who traveled back in time blushed and stared down at her own hooves, trying her best to ignore the death glare her past self was giving her.
"Anyways, Twilight, you need to drink the tea! Upon returning to Ponyville, you will run into Tea Biscuit. She will ask you if you liked her new Earl Grey. If you tell her you didn't drink it, she'll get really upset and start running home, crying. Sooooo yeah, drink it."
"Well, I certainly don't want to upset anypony," thought Present Twilight, "and I certainly don't want to lie to Tea Biscuit. Applejack would never let me hear the end of it if she ever found out."
"Exactly," nodded the second Future Twilight.
"Okay, in that case, I'll drink the tea."
As Twilight made her way towards her tea, which was probably getting a little cold at this point, yet another time anomaly formed in the room, accompanied by yet another Twilight.
"Oh, come on!" cried Twilight.
"Twilight! I'm you two days from now!" announced the newcomer. Unlike the previous future Twilights, this one seemed to be in a panicked and worried state. "Princess Cadance is about to come over for a visit! Well, not now, but in my time, she's standing right at the front door! Problem is, you won't have any tea to serve her!"
"What? Why not?" asked all the other Twilights simultaneously.
"As some of you may know, that tea is really delicious. It's so delicious that you end up drinking all of it tonight - that is, tonight, relative to this current time."
Present Twilight turned to the first Future Twilight. "You drank all the tea in one night!?"
"Like Twilight said, it was really good tea," shrugged the first time traveler.
"I wouldn't know..." frowned the second future Twilight.
"Anyways," continued the third future Twilight. "You must save some for Cadance! Imagine not having the best Earl Grey in the world to serve to your favorite sister-in-law."
All the previous Twilights shuddered and gulped.
"I definitely don't want to imagine that..." thought Twilight.
"Well, I don't have to imagine it, because I'm going through it right now!" reminded the third Future Twilight.
"Alright, alright, I get it! I won't touch the damn tea!" sighed Twilight.
POOF! Another Twilight appeared!
"Twilight! I'm-"
"STOP! Stop, stop, stop!" yelled Present Twilight. "I can't keep track of all of you- I mean, me! Spike!"
Spike, who had blanked out a while ago, snapped back into reality upon hearing his name. "Yes?"
"Get the pile of Post-it notes from my room."
"G-got it!" Spike quickly dashed out of the throne room, then returned a few seconds later with a small yellow pile of paper in his claw.
"Label each of my future selves in order of when they all appeared," ordered Twilight. "Give me the number 'zero' so we know I am the original Twilight."
"Alright then." Spike then gave each Twilight a Post-it with a number on it. The first Future Twilight had a "1", the second had a "2", and so on. The Post-it notes were placed over each of their cutie marks on one side.
"Now that that's settled, what is it that you want?" asked Twilight 0.
"You need to drink the tea!" demanded Twilight 4, the one who had just arrived. "Turns out Cadance prefers ginseng over Earl Grey. However, if you don't drink your Earl Grey now, you're going to end up drinking all the ginseng instead!"
"Twilight, I think you have tea addiction problem," whispered Spike to Twilight 0.
"I'm starting to think you're right," agreed Twilight 0. She then turned towards all the other Twilights. "Okay, I'll drink the tea, but from now on, no more time traveling! This is getting ridiculous, and honestly, most of these problems aren't even that big. I don't think any of these issues warrant prevention via time travel."
"B-but, what about Tea Biscuit?" reminded Twilight 2.
"And Princess Cadance!" added Twilight 4.
"And the stomachache!" cried Twilight 1.
"No! Look, I know I haven't gone through any of the things you all have described, but I think it's best just to handle those problems as they come. Don't you remember what we learned when we tried to warn ourselves not to worry so much about the future?" asked Twilight 0. The other Twilights nodded silently.
"Good. Now, will all of you please go back to your own times now?"
POOF!
"Twilight! Don't drink the tea!"
"What did I just say about not time traveling!?" scolded Twilight 0.
"Listen, this is extremely important!" urged the new Twilight, whom Spike labeled with a "5". "Luna's birthday party is a week from now, and it's going to be held here. You will be in charge of providing beverages and refreshments, including the tea. Princess Celestia is going to ask you for some Earl Grey, but since you won't have any, the Princess will instead choose to drink vodka! Long story short, Celestia is out cold, nopony knows how to raise the sun, and it's still nighttime despite the fact it's 3 PM."
"Okay, that is pretty bad," admitted Twilight 0, "but now that we know that this is going to happen, couldn't we just, I dunno, give Celestia a different drink? Or simply buy more tea before the party?"
"Oh yeah," considered Twilight 5. "Never thought of that..."
"Look, I know the time spell only takes you back to this particular day, but that doesn't mean all your warnings have to be about my tea!" said an exasperated Twilight 0.
"Our tea," corrected Twilight 4.
"Whatever! Anyways, I'll just get more Earl Grey from Tea Biscuit in a few days, alright?"
POOF!
"Wooooooo!" cheered the new Twilight. All the other Twilights reeled in disgust as they stared at this Twilight. Her mane was messy and unkempt, her eyes were unfocused, and her breath reeked of alcohol. In her hoof was a bottle of Applejack's home-brewed apple cider. Spike sighed and wrote a "6" on the next Post-it note. "Awww *hic* yeaaa! Pink... Pinkie Pie? You reeaaally know how to *hic* throw a party!"
"Don't tell me you're-" groaned Twilight 0.
"I swear to drunk I'm not Celestia!" yelled Twilight 6 angrily. She then took a few wobbly steps to the left before colliding with Twilight 5, causing both Twilights to fall over. Her bottle of cider rolled gently out of her hoof, spilling its contents all over the floor.
"Dang it!" cursed Twilight 0. "One of you Twilights, get a mop!"
"Nose goes!" shouted Twilight 1, placing her hoof on her nose. Twilights 0, 2 and 4 promptly did the same. Twilight 3, upon realizing she was the only Twilight who hadn't put her hoof on her muzzle (Twilight 5 was excused, since she was stuck under Twilight 6), grumbled and slowly trotted out the door to fetch a mop.
"Why are you drinking!?" demanded Twilight 5. "Were you able to solve the sun issue?"
"Bah, forget about that!" ignored Twilight 6. "Party don't stop 'til the sun comes up! And if the sun can't be raised *hic*, then the party lasts five-ever!" Twilight 6 cheered again while flailing her hooves around. "It's *hic* forever, but... but..." Twilight 6 snickered as if she had just told the funniest joke in Equestrian history.
The other Twilights rolled their eyes.
"How many drinks did you even have?" sighed Twilight 0.
"I *hic* lost count around twelve..." Twilight 6 waved her hoof randomly around in a circle while the others smacked their foreheads with theirs.
POOF!
"Twilight! You- whoa. Is that what I was like last night?" wondered the most recent Twilight as she looked down at Twilight 6. Spike placed a "7" on her.
"Did you fix the sun?" asked a very concerned Twilight 0.
"Yeah, Celestia woke up and raised it again," reassured Twilight 7. "However, because sunrise ended up happening at 6:23 PM, we're going to have a meeting to figure out how to explain this to the public and how we should adjust the calendars. Also, my head really hurts..."
"And all of this happens because you- we drank a cup of tea!?"
"Well, from your perspective, you're about to drink a cup of tea."
"Okay, if you're absolutely certain that this cup of tea causes this much mayhem, then I'll just discard it," said Twilight 0 as she slowly made her way towards her teacup. "Besides, it's getting cold. Probably doesn't even taste good anymore."
POOF!
"No! Wait!" warned yet another Twilight.
POOF!
"Stop!"
POOF!
"Drink the tea!"
POOF!
"Don't do it!"
Spike ran around the room to label the new Twilights as fast as he could.
POOF!
This Twilight was accompanied by Sunset Shimmer, who stared at all the Twilights in the room, shocked. But then, she leaned gently against the Twilight she had arrived with, looking up at her with dreamy eyes and a curled smile.
"Ooh, Twilight," whispered Sunset delicately into Twilight 12's ear. "You know my birthday isn't for another two months, right?"
"Sunset Shimmer!? Wh-wh-what are you doing here!?" asked Twilight 0. Several of the other Twilights looked on with curious expressions. "And why are you being so close to her- us!?"
"Oh yeah, Sunset confessed her feelings to me a few days ago," explained Twilight 10 nonchalantly. The Twilights with lower numbers all blushed.
"Really???" squealed Twilight 9 in delight. "H-How? When? Where?"
"We had a picnic by the lake and watched the sunset together," answered Twilight 11. "It was really romantic~"
"Glad you liked it!" smiled Sunset Shimmer.
"How far into the future are you?" asked Twilight 4.
"Well-"
"Stop! I don't need details about my future romances!" shouted Twilight 0, her ears burning red with embarrassment. "More importantly, why did you travel back in time?"
Twilight 12 tapped her hoof on her chin for a few moments. "I'm not really sure. I was in the library with Sunset, and I was showing her a new spell... Oh, wait! I must've activated it by accident when my spell hit the bookshelf!"
Twilight 0, using her magic, grabbed a book and angrily threw it at Twilight 12, who was knocked off her hooves.
"Ow!"
"No! Sparky!" cried Sunset, running to Twilight 12's side to make sure she was okay. The other Twilights blushed again upon hearing their future nickname.
"We're having a time-traveling crisis on our hooves here!" exclaimed Twilight 0. "This is serious business! We don't need more future mes popping up here, much less by accident!"
POOF!
"Twilight! The tea!"
POOF!
"I'm you from the future!"
POOF!
"You need to-"
POOF!
"Hi!"
"Pinkie!? What are you doing here?"
"I dunno, I was just making some cupcakes!" Pinkie looked around the throne room. "Hey, you didn't use the mirror pool, did you?"
POOF!
As more and more Twilights appeared while shouting various things about tea, Twilight 0's eyes widened with fear.
"Oh buck."