Inside the Friendship Express...
It was barely an hour ago when Star Twinkle visited Twilight in his search for some answers. Seeing Twilight react so terrified, only further pocked his curiosity. There was something that he didn't know...something that was hidden from him.
Twilight's scared expression was burned into Star Twinkle's mind. "Why was she so scared...what did she see after she drank that potion?" He asked himself over and over again.
The train was heading to Canterlot. There were as hoof full of other ponies inside the train with Star Twinkle but his head was leaned towards a window where he was looking outside with his mind being far, far away to even realize or even get bothered by that. Canterlot could be seen in the distance. As soon as Star Twinkle saw it, his eye began to narrow. "Things already turned out bad...mind as well go all the way now..." he said determined to still get more answers to his questions.
Discord wouldn't give him a straight explanation, nightmares would continue to haunt Star Twinkle's dreams, and now Twilight would refuse to explain what she saw in her vision after drinking Zecora's potion. With all those things happening to him, it was impossible to just ignore them, even if that is exactly what he wanted to do originally. He already took a dive into the truth and he was not about to stop now.
And there was one pony in Equestria he knew who could give him some answers...probably...
Inside of Canterlot Castle...
Princess Celestia sat on her throne in Canterlot Castle and looked over some letters. She seemed to be done with whatever she was doing and put them away again, shortly after. She then moved her eyes all across throne room to see if somepony was looking. After making sure that nopony was around right now, Princess Celestia used her magic and levitated a plate with a slice of strawberry cake from behind her throne in front of her. She licked her lips and levitated a fork with a little piece of cake on it towards her mouth but as soon as she saw how the big door of the throne room opened, she quickly put the cake behind her throne again and smiled awkwardly to not raise any suspicion.
"Your majesty!" One member of the Royal Guard announced, grabbing the princess's full attention. "A visitor," he simply said before he stepped away, revealing Star Twinkle who was slowly walking into the throne room.
Princess Celestia smiled warmly. "Star Twinkle! What a surprise," she said before she raised from her throne and walked towards the stallion. "What is the reason for your visit?"
Star Twinkle had to remember that it was still Princess Celestia who was standing in front of him so he could not just blandly ask if he can talk with her. He figured that the ruler of Equestria was probably pretty busy right now and didn't have any time to deal with Star Twinkle's problem. But Star Twinkle didn't come all the way to Canterlot to just leave without even asking so he just got to the point very quickly. "Princess Celestia...can I talk with you about something?" He asked without even attempting to waste any time.
Princess Celestia's smile got a little smaller. "About your element?"
Star Twinkle's eye twitched. He was starting to wonder if he was easier to read then he would like to. "Yeah..." he simply replied.
Princess Celestia continued. "About how your Element shattered?" She then said out of the blue with her smile slowly vanishing and turning her expression to a more serious one.
"So you know!?" Star Twinkle replied in surprise looking directly into the eyes of the princess. Before he knew it, he just bombarded the princess with one question after another. "Do you know why it happened? Why was there no seventh Element when you fought against Discord and Nightmare Moon!? Is my Element not supposed to exist, like Discord said?"
But even though Star Twinkle dropped one question after another, Princess Celestia didn't seem to be to overwhelmed and calmly replied. "Star Twinkle...can I ask you a question?"
"Of course..." Star Twinkle said.
"Do you believe it's the Elements of Harmony that connects you with your friends?" Princess Celestia asked.
Star Twinkle felt like as if this was a trick question. Twilight already answered this question before she wanted everypony to give up their elements. He knew what the answer was "No. The Elements of Harmony is what brought us together but it's our friendship that connects us." Princess Celestia was happy to hear Star Twinkle say that and smiled in response. "But. This is not about me and my friends. This is solely about me," Star Twinkle bluntly replied. "I don't mean to be rude but...Discord clearly knew something that I didn't and I suspect you to know something as well," Star Twinkle began to get a lot more serious and looked at the princess as if he completely forgot who he was talking to.
Those words seemed to affect Princess Celestia. The usually calm and collected princess let out a sigh as a sign to give up. "I think it's time that I show you something..." she then said before she used her magic to make a scroll appear in front of her.
This looked really familiar to Star Twinkle. Back then, before his first Grand Galloping Gala, Star Twinkle talked with the princess about his Element of Harmony and how hard it was for him to accept how his boring life changed that much. At that time, Princess Celestia showed him one of the letters that Twilight used to send to her and it showed how Star Twinkle was one of the friends who helped her to realize how important friendship was. He figured that she was trying to do something similar this time.
However, Star Twinkle was heavily surprised after hearing how serious Princess Celestia was. "When I found you, this scroll was right next to you," she simply said as she levitated the scroll in front of Star Twinkle.
"Found me?" Star Twinkle asked confused.
Princess Celestia offered Star Twinkle to open the scroll which he immediately did. He took a look inside and began to read out loud.
"Whoever reads this, please make sure that Princess Celestia is informed about this...
This pony in front of you, his name is Star Twinkle.
I have a request...
Make sure that his safety is assured. At least for a while...
Sooner or later he will be targeted because of his connection with the Elements of Harmony.
This has to be prevented at all costs.
I cannot go into much detail about this...neither can I tell you who I am.
I know that you don't have a reason to trust me but all I want is this ponies and Equestria's safety.
All I ask for...is some time...
Until I made sure to deal with everything..."
After reading through the letter multiple times, Star Twinkle narrowed his eyes in confusion. "I don't get it. Who wrote this letter? And what does the writer mean with me being targeted?" But as soon as he asked that question, it struck him. "That pony in the black armor!?" He said in his realization, referring to the pony that attacked him after Twilight's coronation in Canterlot.
Princess Celestia nodded. "Maybe. Of course, with little information like this, it is not clear who this armored pony was or why it attacked you but it might be someone who the writer of this letter spoke of. Someone who was after you in order to get to the Elements of Harmony," she could only guess.
"But why?" Star Twinkle asked. "What connection do I have with the Elements of Harmony?"
"This...I don't know," Princess Celestia said before she got up from her throne and walked across the room. "But I choose to believe what was written in this letter," she said as she stopped at one of the windows to look up to the sky. "The seal that kept my sister inside of the moon was about to break. Nightmare Moon would return and try to cover Equestria in her Eternal Night. Of course, that had to be prevented at all costs..." She said before she turned around to Star Twinkle again. "My precious student Twilight Sparkle knew about this too and sent me a letter to warn me about it," the princess began to smile. "That was shortly before I sent her to Ponyville,"
"What?" Star Twinkle asked confused.
Princess Celestia continued. "I sent her to Ponyville to make friends but I also believed that Twilight would find a way to the Elements of Harmony. And since you were connected to them, chances were pretty high that she would meet you so that you could help her to stop my sister," she explained.
"Wait..." Star Twinkle said before he took his sweet time to think about all those things that he just gathered from Princess Celestia. "So besides making new friends, you sent Twilight to Ponyville because you knew that my connection to the Elements of Harmony would help to save Equestria?"
The princess walked up to Star Twinkle and put a hoof on his shoulder after realizing how hard it was for him to comprehend all this. "Listen, Star Twinkle. I'm sorry that I can't give you any more answers. I can imagine how hard it must be for you to have all those questions unanswered but know that whatever you are, were or will become, your friends will always be on your side, no matter what," she said with a warm smile on her face.
Star Twinkle couldn't help but think about Twilight and how she looked at him after she drank Zecora's potion. Maybe she saw something that he was unaware of...something that he wanted to know...something related to him that was connected to this letter. But if what Princess Celestia said was true, then there was no more point to continue talking with her.
Star Twinkle decided to leave the throne room. As soon as he was outside, the doors were closed behind him and he let out a big sigh. "I guess I got here for nothing..." he said with a frown on his face.
In his frustration, he didn't even realize how Princess Luna was standing next to the door, causing him to jump as soon as she raised her voice. "Is something the matter Starfall Twinkle?" Princess Luna asked as she noticed how upset Star Twinkle was after exiting the throne room.
The green pony didn't even try to hide his frustration. "It's nothing, Princess Luna..." he simply said before he walked past her.
However, Princess Luna was not about to give up so easily and followed Star Twinkle. "I really don't mean to be pushy, especially since you already asked my sister for advice but as Princess of the Night, it is also my responsibility to help out, if I can,"
Princess Luna couldn't help him out much since she was trapped inside of the moon for thousand years, Star Twinkle was aware of that. But then suddenly, Star Twinkle stopped in his track. He remembered that there was something else that bothered him. Something that he completely forgot to mention to Princess Celestia. "Maybe you can help me out with something," he said as he turned around to the princess. "There is this nightmare that I have from time to time,"
"I see..." Princess Luna replied. She seemed glad to help with something that was basically her daily bread. "Follow me..." she then said, much to Star Twinkle's surprise.
"What? Don't you want to know what my dream is about in order to help me?" Star Twinkle asked.
"Of course," Princess Luna replied. "That is why I will take a direct look at your dream...in a way,"
Star Twinkle reacted with surprise. "You can do something like that?" He asked.
Princess Luna nodded with a smile on her face. She seemed very confident as well. That was enough for Star Twinkle to believe in her. By now, he appreciated every help that he could find in order to get some answers. Maybe he would even end up to actually get some this time...
A Little Later in a room in Canterlot Castle...
Princess Luna explained that in order to help Star Twinkle figuring out what exactly his dream was about, he first needed to go to sleep. Princess Luna would then enter Star Twinkle's dreams. She explained that dreams are often connected to memories or one's subconscious and those could be accessed to by her.
It sounded promising enough so Star Twinkle gave it a try. All he had to do was to go to sleep. Princess Luna made sure to find a room for this. She picked a room that was decorated with lavender, apparently, that would make it easier for one to fall asleep. Star Twinkle could feel it working after he laid in a bed in the middle of the room. He closed his eyes and just waited to drift off into the dreamland.
But there was a problem...
"This...is not gonna work..." he said before he opened his eyes again. He looked over to his right. Princess Luna was standing next to the bed and kept looking at Star Twinkle. Needless to say, it made Star Twinkle feel a little weird. "Princess Luna could you please not look at me like that?" He said with some embarrassment in his voice.
Princess Luna reacted confused. "But how else do I know, when you are asleep if I don't keep watch you?" She said, clearly not seeing the problem.
Star Twinkle sat up."But I can't sleep if somepony is standing right next to me and keeps watching me!"
Princess Luna rubbed her chin. "Would it be better for you if we leave the room, then?"
"Yes!" Star Twinkle immediately replied.
Princess Luna then did what Star Twinkle demanded and left the room to check up on him later. This made it certainly easier for Star Twinkle to concentrate on sleeping but he still was nervous because he knew what would happen next. He was sure that he could still not fall asleep. But just when that thought crossed his mind, he began to get really sleepy.
Eventually, he finally fell asleep...
Star Twinkle opened his eyes. Around him was nothing but water. After taking a closer look at his surroundings, he realized that he was in a giant fishbowl. Either that or he shrunk in size and was suddenly able to breathe underwater. Star Twinkle didn't mind that. He jumped up and found himself floating in the water, swimming around in circles. He started to have fun doing this without really realizing it.
But then a voice talked to him. "Starfall," it said, catching Star Twinkle's full attention. It was Princess Luna who was landing on the ground next to him, surrounding herself in a magic orb which she removed once her hooves touched the ground.
"Princess Luna? What are you doing here?" Star Twinkle asked. Princess Luna then used some kind of spell that made Star Twinkle realize again what was going on. "Oh yeah, I'm in a dream!" Star Twinkle then said as he remembered what he and Princess Luna were about to do. "Wait! I heard that once you realize you are in a dream, that you wake up!" He said in a panic, trying to find a way to not realize that he was in a dream to prevent that, which was obviously impossible.
"Do not worry, Starfall Twinkle. I can control many things in a dream once I am inside of it. Just do as I say and you'll be fine," she assured. She then used her magic to summon a door right next to the two. "Follow me," she said just before the door opened.
Star Twinkle walked towards the door but he stopped for a moment after seeing something weird that caught his attention. It was his pet Goldfish Comet who was a hundred times bigger than Star Twinkle and Princess Luna. He was levitating in midair just above the fishbowl, motionless and kept staring into the distance.
"This dream sure is strange..." was the only thing that Star Twinkle could say in this situation.
"Dreams tend to be that..." Princess Luna added, unfazed by this picture. She must have seen a lot more strange things in the dreams of other ponies. "Let's go," she then said, once more asking Star Twinkle to follow her.
They both went through the door and closed it behind them. On the other side if the door was what looked like some kind of long hallway which had hundreds or maybe thousands of doors on both walls.
Princess Luna explained the meaning about this hallway. "All these doors lead to the dream realm. Each door belongs to someone else. All I need now is some help from you," she said before she turned to Star Twinkle. "Try to remember that nightmare that you had. Try to remember as much of it as you can. If you do that, a door appears and we can access your memories," she explained.
"Okay..." Star Twinkle replied before he closed his eyes to think of all the events that he saw in his dream.
How he woke up in his bed...
Him seeing his friends in Ponyville...
How they were not aware of his presence and walked away from him...
And how he suddenly found himself in the Castle of the Two Sisters...
With his friends attacking him the Elements of Harmony...
And that time where he was in Ponyville with everything burning around him...
"There!" Princess Luna then exclaimed, causing Star Twinkle to abruptly snap out of his thoughts. It was just like Princess Luna said, a door appeared in front of the two. "Behind this door, you will find the memories that are connected to your dream. They will show you what caused those nightmares of yours," she turned her head towards Star Twinkle. "But keep in mind...whatever you see behind this door may not give you straight answer...it will merely hint what could cause them..."
Star Twinkle gulped. He kept in mind what Princess Luna said to him and slowly approached the door. His hoof reached out to the doorknob and he slowly turned it around to open the door. He only opened it up a little and took a huge breath to prepare himself for what he was about to see. After collecting his thoughts, he then finally fully opened up the door. A bright light emerged from inside of it, causing Star Twinkle to cover his eyes. Still, he walked forward to enter the room with Princess Luna right behind him who seemed unfazed by the light that came from inside the room. After a few seconds the light finally dimmed down and Star Twinkle fully opened his eyes to take a look in front of him. "What?" He said in complete confusion.
Princess Luna shared this confusion. "I have never seen this happen before..." she said, clearly not able to understand what was happening.
There was nothing...
Absolutely nothing...
Only white...
The only thing that could be seen was the color white. Star Twinkle looked all around himself. Up, right, left, down, everywhere he looked at was just the color white. It was like as if he put his face close to a blank piece of paper. There was nothing.
"What's the meaning of this!?" Star Twinkle asked confused, turning towards Princess Luna like a little colt who just saw something behind its comprehension for the first time.
But Princess Luna was just as confused as he was. "I'm not sure. I never saw an empty memory room before. Every dream is in some way connected to at least one memory,"
Star Twinkle began to lose his patience and walked up to the princess. "So what!? This dream of mine just came out of nowhere!? It means nothing!? And this whole room which is supposed to be my memory is empty because I don't have a memory!?"
"Calm yourself, Starfall..." Princess Luna said.
But that only made Star Twinkle feel more frustrated. He dropped to his knees and felt like as if he was about to start crying out of pure confusion. "Discord said that my Element of Harmony was not supposed to exist. It shattered in front of me. As if it was never there, to begin with. Then what about me? I feel like as if I am the one who is not supposed to exist..."
Princess Luna was about to put her hoof on Star Twinkle and say some comforting words but she suddenly stopped and widened her eyes. "Look!" She simply said before she pointed in front of her.
Star Twinkle turned around. His eyes widened as well as he realized that something was in the room this time. It was a pony. A pony stood a few meters away from the two, directly facing both of them. It was a unicorn stallion with a dark orange coat, a dark red mane, and dark blue eyes. Star Twinkle got up on his hooves again and stared at the pony, who stared right back at him with a smile on his face.
"Who...are you?" Star Twinkle asked as he began to walk up to the pony.
But as soon as he got a little closer to him, the pony vanished like dust in the wind until he was completely gone. Star Twinkle wanted to reach out his hoof but in the end, he decided not to and just stood there with his eyes motionless staring into the distance. Eventually, he began to frown before he let out a sigh. "Great...another question added to the list..." he said with a mix of frustration and sarcasm in his voice.
Later in Ponyville...
After this trip in his memories, Star Twinkle decided to head back to Ponyville. In the end, he only got a few very vague answers and even more questions. He could only laugh at how this all turned out. Of course, he would not get any answers. Of course, he would be even more confused in the end. It was just pure frustration that he went through.
He decided to go straight home. Although, he didn't really pay attention where exactly he was walking to since he had his head down all this time. Suddenly, he began to laugh. "I guess I am cursed to walk around confused for the rest of my life, huh?" He could only say jokingly. He then stopped had a sudden outburst. "Is getting some answers really that much to ask for!?" He exclaimed.
Once he calmed down again, he noticed how Twilight was standing a few meters in front of him, looking at him confused. Maybe she wanted to say something to him before his little outburst but right now the situation was far too uncomfortable for her to say anything. Star Twinkle couldn't blame her, he was standing there in the middle of the road as if he completely forgot how to speak.
"I...I think this is a bad time so I just gonna leave..." she said hastily before she turned around to go away again.
"Wait!" Star Twinkle quickly exclaimed with a frustrated tone in his voice. Twilight actually stopped and turned around with a nervous expression on her face, waiting for what Star Twinkle had to say next. "Please don't walk away...and...please...don't look at me like that..." he begged.
Hearing those words made Twilight feel a little bad. She was not aware that her reaction after drinking Zecora's potion was leaving such an impression on Star Twinkle. "I'm sorry..." she simply replied with a frown on her face.
Star Twinkle was frowning as well. "I don't know what you saw...and I think I don't want to know if it made you feel afraid of me. But...with all those other things happening...I don't know how much I can take...if I lose a friend..." he said in his pure frustration.
"Star Twinkle?" Twilight asked confused.
The stallion didn't realize her response and continued. "My Element of Harmony, me being able to turn into a Pegasus or a Unicorn, this pony in the black armor that attacked me, my element shattering in front of me, those weird dreams" he just continued without pause, grabbing his head with one of his hooves. "At first, it was really uncomfortable for me that my life changed this much and I just wanted to return to my boring old life. But then I realized how happy I was...so I accepted everything the way it was and didn't look back. But as soon as I thought that everything was perfect, new things started to happen...and I was back where I was before. I feel like no matter what I do, I' just not able to be happy and I don't even know what to think anymore!" He exclaimed in frustration.
Twilight was walking towards Star Twinkle with a sad expression on her face as if she felt responsible for this situation. "I...I didn't realize that all this was bothering you this much..."
"It does..." Star Twinkle replied, not even trying to hide anything at this point. "I tried to ignore it but I just can't and it's starting to drive me crazy..."
Twilight took a huge breath and then hugged Star Twinkle, who was not ready for this at all and just stood there paralyzed. "Listen..." she started to whisper. "I may have overreacted a little...I'm sorry for that..." she apologized before she released Star Twinkle from her hug again. "It doesn't matter what I saw or what it made me think of you. All I have to know is that you are you. A good friend that I should trust." She then began to rub her neck. "After you broke your promise, I was really sad and even disappointed in you...but then I did the same to you by not talking to you about what I saw...that was not right..."
Star Twinkle appreciated that Twilight said that and smiled a little which caused her to smile back at him. "Thanks," Star Twinkle said. Twilight then offered to tell Star Twinkle what she saw in her vision but he instantly rejected that offer. "Please don't..." he said, much to her surprise. "What you said...I want to believe in that. That I am me. Right now. I don't need to know anything else, right?"
Twilight seemed to hesitate for a moment but she did agree with what he said. "Right..." she simply said. "A lot of things happened recently...maybe we all just need a break,"
"Yeah," Star Twinkle replied. "I think I will go home and just...take a good rest,"
"Yes," Twilight replied. "And Star Twinkle," she said before she put a hoof on the stallion's shoulder. "Don't forget that we are all with you. You may think that you have to deal with everything on your own but your friends will always be with you. No matter what happens,"
Star Twinkle began to smile. It was not a fake smile but a truthful one. He appreciated hearing Twilight say that and actually took it seriously this time. "Thanks," he simply said as he grabbed Twilight's hoof with a smile on his face. Twilight smiled back and then turned around to walk home. Star Twinkle watched how she was walking away. He took a huge breath and calmed himself again. "She is right...she is right...I am me...Star Twinkle..." he kept telling himself. He knew that it was only a matter of time until even more questions would pop, causing him to end up being frustrated again. Trying to find the answers was not helping so there was literally no point for Star Twinkle to go on with this either. He learned this lesson a while ago but every time something new would happen, he just forget about this and wanted answers again. There was no guarantee that it would happen again so Star Twinkle walked home with the thought in his mind that he just had to wait until that would happen.
As Star Twinkle was front of his home, in front of his door to be exact. He opened his door but stopped for a moment to look back. He took a good look at Ponyville. He couldn't help but think about how it was burning in this one dream. He was once again determined to put all those things aside to live his life without any worry.
"Whatever is out there...whatever will happen...I will deal with it..." He thought with his eyes narrowed in determination. "But now...I will enjoy my life without worrying about that..."
After those words, Star Twinkle walked inside and closed the door behind him.
But little did he know that he was being watched...
Somepony was watching how Star Twinkle went inside his house. That somepony was standing on top of a building that was just across Star Twinkle's house. That pony was wearing a pitch black armor that covered it's entire body, fully hiding the ponies coat and mane. On the ponies helmet was a horn and on the sides of the armor, were wings, which were covered with black plates as well, making it unclear what race the pony beneath this armor was. But one thing was obvious. It was the same pony who attacked Star Twinkle after Twilight's coronation.
The pony stared at Star Twinkle's house for a few moments without saying anything. Soon, the pony away and jumped off from the roof of the house it was standing on, spreading its wings and flying into the distance...
Ponyville...?
Twilight found herself in the middle of the road in Ponyville. The mare looked around to find out why that was the case. "I'm still in Ponyville? Did the potion not work?" She wondered.
It was only moments after Twilight drank Zecora's potion because of Star Twinkle who wanted some answers regarding his past. The problem was, she had no idea what she was supposed to be looking out for. Star Twinkle didn't give her too much information and neither did she had any idea why he was suddenly asking for something like that. She was the one who offered her help though and she didn't want disappoint him so the mare walked around in Ponyville to look for him. If the potion worked correctly like the last two times, then her being in Ponyville meant that the pony she was thinking about was not too far away.
Soon, she got an answer in the form of screams that could be heard not too far away. Even though she knew that what she was seeing were events of the past that she couldn't change anyway, Twilight tried to rush towards where the screams came from. However, she stopped because one pony ran in front of her, causing her to stop for a moment. It was a Unicorn stallion with a dark orange coat, a dark red mane, dark blue eyes and a bright orange flash of light as a Cutie Mark. He stopped once he walked past one building and looked around the corner to his left. "Star Twinkle!" He then shouted before he ran around the corner and out of Twilight.
Of course, Twilight quickly followed him once she heard that name. She ran as fast as she could to make sure that she wouldn't miss him and was soon around the corner as well but she was not prepared for what she was about to see.
Fire...
Ponyville was on fire. Ponies were suddenly screaming and running past Twilight who had no idea what was going on. She certainly did not expect Ponyville being on fire. Her mouth was open in shock after seeing this image. The area in front of her was filled with flames the most. That is when she realized that the pony from before was standing a few steps away in front of her. And a few steps in front of him stood Star Twinkle, who's back was turned towards the two of them. And in front of him, were two unconscious ponies on the ground.
"Star Twinkle?" She said, even though she knew that he couldn't hear her.
The longer she looked at him, however, the more she felt like as if something was different. This became even more clear once she took a closer look at him. Star Twinkle had a horn which he used to absorb something from the two ponies in front of him with the help of magic. On top of that, he also had wings. "No way..." Twilight said in her surprise "Star Twinkle is an Alicorn!?"
"Star Twinkle!" The pony in front of Twilight shouted once more, causing Twilight to snap out of her confusion.
This time, Star Twinkle heard the pony and stopped with whatever he was doing to those two poor ponies. He slowly turned his head around and faced the two ponies. This is when Twilight felt shivers running down her spine. There was a malicious grin right under Star Twinkle's red eyes. Twilight never saw an expression like that on his face. As if that wasn't enough, Star Twinkle raised his horn into the air which was shortly followed by a trail of fire coming from his left and right that soon wandered towards the orange coated stallion and Twilight, trapping both of them in a big ring of flames. Twilight panicked a little because she was not sure if those flames could actually hurt her. The flames then began to raise up into the air and trapped Twilight and the Unicorn completely in a cage of fire. The Unicorn seemed surprised as well but as soon as Star Twinkle slowly walked up to him with this sinister grin on his face, the Unicorn's face became more determined and even angry.
Twilight felt like as of she doesn't belong in this situation, which was ironic because she wasn't there to begin with, given that this was the past.
But what kind of messed up past was this?
Star Twinkle, one of her closest friends was setting Ponyville on fire with a smile on his face?
And on top of that, he was an Alicorn?
Twilight didn't know how to deal with that. She wanted to deny seeing those things. But this was the past. This happened and there was no denying in that.
But if that all happened then what was the meaning of that?
Why was Star Twinkle behaving like that?
And why is he no longer an Alicorn?
Why is he so different now?
It didn't take long until Twilight would return to the present with Star Twinkle standing confused in front of her. Of course, she was confused and even scared of Star Twinkle after seeing those things. She didn't know what to think of it and went inside her library, leaving Star Twinkle outside. Later that day she would have eventually settled things again but that feeling of Star Twinkle not being the pony she believes he was, wouldn't leave her. She decided to put her trust in Star Twinkle, especially since she heard how he felt about all those things that happened to him recently but that haunting vision wouldn't leave her mind that easily. One of the most haunting things was definitely those words that Star Twinkle said right before Twilight would return to the present. They were what scared her the most and completely changed the way how she looked at him. Hearing them from him, out of all ponies, put fear in her mind.
And those words were:
"This will be the end...of your Equestria!"