//------------------------------//
// S2 E20: It's About Time (What If?) - Redo 
// Story: My Little Pony Friendship is Magic What If?: Volume 7 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
//------------------------------//

The day started with no indication that it would be at all unusual, everypony in Ponyville was going about their business as usual. The weather was as it should be for this time of year, warm and sunny but not too hot.

Not far from town hall, Fluttershy was helping Pinkie Pie move party supplies across town. They were needed for a celebration that the party pony had not yet elaborated on. "Come on, Fluttershy!" Pinkie called to her pegasus friend as she floated along with a bunch of balloons. "The party can't start until all the supplies get there!"

Fluttershy struggled to move under the weight of boxes worth of party decorations. She was starting to regret having volunteered to help her friend without asking what she needed help with. "I'm doing my best, Pinkie," She said with a groan. "But um, do you think that maybe next time you could not bring so many boxes over at once? Or maybe put them on some kind of cart?"

"Sorry, Fluttershy, but you can't help it when a party needs planning on such short notice," Pinkie apologized. "Don't you worry, we're almost there. And soon I'll know just what this party is, so I won't have to rely on my 'Pinkie Sense' to tell me when it'll happen again."

"What do you mean by that, Pinkie?" Fluttershy questioned. "Do you have some kind of system that keeps track of every kind of cause for celebration in Ponyville? Maybe that book on organization that Twilight lent you gave you some ideas?"

Before Pinkie could answer a purple blur of motion came rushing past at a tremendous rate of speed! If not for the color of the coat that briefly flashed past, Fluttershy would've assumed it was Pinkie Pie herself. As it was the pegasus with a coat of yellow barely had time to think of anything or do anything else. She was swept aside and knocked down, the boxes of party supplies bursting open as streamers, party hats, and party favors rained down from above. "Did anypony get the license number of that cart?" She muttered to herself as her eyes spun around.

"Beats me," Pinkie answered. "I couldn't see who it was. But whoever they were, they were sure in a hurry. Something must be up that even my 'Pinkie Sense' doesn't know about."

Just then the blur began to slow and as it stood on the bridge it revealed itself as the very familiar figure of Twilight Sparkle. She panted, clearly out of breath. But she was now overlooking the very center of Ponyville, the perfect place to broadcast her message. "Listen up, everypony!" She urgently cried out! "What I'm about to say is extremely important!" Everyone stopped what they had been doing and all turned to look and listen to Twilight. The unicorn cleared her throat and explained. "I've just received an important message from my future self, warning me of an impending disaster that will happen sometime before next Tuesday morning."

At that everyone burst into fits of hysterical laughter and one stallion was even heard to say. "That's ridiculous, time travel is a scientific impossibility! I should know, I've been experimenting with the very idea ever since a traumatic experience as a foal."

"But I'm being serious!" Twilight whined and pouted. "Why won't anypony listen to me?! I'm trying to change the future and prevent disaster!" But the laughs just continued to pour in. No one seemed willing to take her seriously.



The laughing went on for some time much to poor Twilight's embarrassment, she wished nothing more than for it to stop.

She was indeed being serious, she really had received a visit from her future self and she could still remember the entire ordeal. It had happened just mere moments ago after all:

Twilight had stayed up late to plan out her schedule for the next month, like she always did at the end of a month. But she'd run into a small snag in that she had accidentally not left time in her current schedule to plan out next month's schedule. It took a sleepless night of planning and debating, but she'd finally worked out a solution. "If I move lunch with Pinkie Pie to this coming Thursday and then re-arrange Spike's check-up to fill that gap on Tuesday, I'll have just enough time now to work out my schedule for the next month!"

But just as she was preparing to go upstairs and get what little sleep she still could, the unicorn was shocked and surprised to bear witness to a most unusual scene.

A strange roaring sound was heard and the papers on her desk began to rustle, as though being compelled to move. The unicorn with a coat of purple turned to look and much to her surprise a glowing white bubble appeared in the middle of the room! There was a dazzling flash and for a moment she could not see anything.

When the flash had faded there stood another Twilight Sparkle! But she looked noticeably different. She wore a tattered, torn, and ripped black suit riddled with holes. A white cloth not unlike a bandage was wrapped around her forehead, no doubt due to some horrible head trauma that had yet to heal. Her mane and tail looked like they had been exposed to electricity, because they stood up in straight bangs. And most telling of all, over her right eye was an eye-patch. Sparks of electricity flowed out of her as this alternative Twilight stood up.

"Who are you?" The present Twilight inquired. "And why do you look like me?"

"Because I am you!" The other Twilight answered and then frantically pleaded. "I'm you from the future, and you have to listen to me!"

But the present Twilight only commented. "Wow! Time travel is a possibility! How did you, I mean I pull it off?"

"The time travel spells are in the Starswirl the Bearded section of the Canterlot archives, but that's not important!" Future Twilight protested. "What is important is that-"

Present Twilight interrupted. "Gosh, you look terrible. Is there some kind of horrible pony war in the distant future or something?"

"Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning," Future Twilight explained. "But what you need to know is-"

"Does time travel hurt? Is it really okay to meet with your past self? Ooh, I have so many questions!" Present Twilight beamed! "I could write a whole paper on this!"

But Future Twilight inserted a hoof into present Twilight's mouth to silence her. As she spoke her body started to glow bright white. "Just listen to me, I don't have much time!" She protested. "What I'm about to tell you is very important! Whatever you do, don't..." But she never finished her sentence because at that moment she faded away entirely, as if she'd never existed in the first place.

Of course, present Twilight knew better. Nothing else could explain the huge crater that had been left by her future self, it had to be time travel. "What was my future self trying to warn me about?" She thought to herself. "Oh, if only I'd listened to her and not asked so many questions! Whatever it was it must be something really bad if my future self looked so messed up! I have to warn everypony before whatever's supposed to happen happens!"

And it was with that train of thought that the unicorn had made an uncharacteristically fast paced sprint out of her library and out into Ponyville. All she could think about was warning the town in the hopes of preventing whatever unknown disaster her future self had traveled back in time to warn her about.

Yet not a single pony would believe her, they were all laughing at her if she'd made the whole thing. But it had been real, as real as real can be! Why wouldn't anypony take her seriously?





"What's all this commotion about?" Applejack inquired as she, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all arrived on the scene.

"Twilight says she received a visit from her future self warning about some kind of disaster," Fluttershy explained. "But it sounds just a little ridiculous."

"How about completely ridiculous?" Rainbow Dash laughed. "I think Twilight's been reading too many Daring Do books, she's starting to think the impossible is possible!"

Rarity couldn't help but quiver a little. "But what if she really is serious? What if there's some horrible, unspeakable disaster that will happen in the future?"

"Wouldn't Pinkie's 'Pinkie Sense' tell us about before it happened?" Rainbow inquired. "It predicts the future, after all."

But Pinkie shook her head. "Don't be silly, Dashie, my 'Pinkie Sense' is not like fortune telling. It's only for the immediate future, like seconds or minutes in advance. It can't tell what'll happen days ahead of time."

"What exactly should we do?" Fluttershy pondered. "Twilight clearly believes her future self was warning her about some sort of disaster. But then again Spike did mention she's been up late the past few nights."

Applejack let out a sigh. "I don't know what to think, y'all, but I do know one thing. This is not unlike the time we saw Twilight lookin' all messed up, and when we learned she was upset about not findin' a friendship lesson to report to Princess Celestia, we all brushed her off and told her it was no big deal."

A guilty looked cross Rainbow's face and she covered her violet eyes with a wing. "Don't remind me. I feel ashamed just thinking about that whole ordeal."

"And let's not forget about the whole 'enchanted doll' thing. Poor Sweetie Belle and her friends were upset about it for weeks." Rarity commented.

"So I reckon if we don't want a similar incident on our here hooves this time, it's best if we take Twilight's concerns seriously. When next Tuesday mornin' comes and go with no sign of trouble, we can all breath a little easier," Applejack suggested. "How's that sound?" The remaining ponies nodded in confirmation, and Applejack took that a sign that they were all onboard. The farm mare then trotted up to her unicorn friend and told her. "We believe ya, Twilight. And we wanna help in any way we can. What can we do to help prevent... whatever it is that's supposed to happen?"

Twilight flashed a bright smile. It felt so nice to know that she had friends who were willing to listen to her, even if at times her worries could seem silly. "I'm very glad you asked, Applejack," And she cleared her throat. "Spike? The checklist, if you please."

"Yes ma'am!" Spike saluted in reply as he took out a huge scroll and unfurled it.

Twilight explained to her friends as they examined the long parchment. "I assembled a list of various things that might cause a disaster on any sort of level. If the whole town pitches in and helps out, we should have everything done in less than a day's time."

Pinkie eyed the scroll, soon taking notice of one of the items listed on it. "Wait a second! Get my bangs cut?! Twilight, what possible harm could there be in that?!"

The unicorn simply replied. "If they grow too long they could weigh down your hair and cause you to trip, and then who knows what could happen. I'm not taking any chances, Pinkie," And she instructed. "Rarity, you can take Pinkie down to the spa for a mane cut, right?"

The pink party pony protested. "But I like my mane this way, it's been that way for a long time. You saw what happened the last time I tried to style it."

But Rarity simply replied to Pinkie. "So, it can't hurt to try again. And even if your mane goes back to normal, cutting the bangs will make it look even prettier," And then she added. "Besides, you wouldn't Mr. and Mrs. Cake to worry about loose hair from your bangs getting into the sweets now would you?"

"Well... when you put it like that..." Pinkie began.

Rarity interrupted and began to push Pinkie along the path towards the spa. "I knew you'd see it my way, Pinkie Pie, darling!" And she gave Twilight a wink to let her know the situation was under control.

"Okay, that's one problem we can cross off the list," Twilight proudly declared. "Now, what else should we start with?"





Twilight's "proposals" as she put it were soon put into action. Many of the towns folk didn't really believe or care about Twilight's statement about a visit from her future self, but they had to admit there were things that needed to be done that they likely would've kept putting off had such a situation as this not arisen.

Ponies worked together to do things such as fill up the water tower, loosen and then tighten the bolts on the bridges, and even fill in cracks on some of the roads.

"Pinkie's bangs are under control!" Rarity proudly reported to Twilight a short time later.

"Great," Twilight smiled and turned to Fluttershy. "How are things on your end? Any creature problems?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Zecora says the forest is as quiet as can be."

Rainbow Dash swooped down and added. "And the weather team just gave the all clear from Baltimare to Las Pegasus."

"You can relax now, Twilight," Spike assured the still troubled unicorn. "You warned the town and they listened. Everything is one hundred percent under control now."

"Maybe," Twilight sighed as she trotted around town, observing the last few proposals as work was finishing up. "But I can't help but feel like maybe we should be worried about far more than just loose bolts and out of control manes. Future Twilight looked terrible. Whatever the disaster was that she traveled back in time to warn me about has to be something very serious."

"Like what, exactly?" Spike questioned.

But just then a three headed, black furred dog with a spiky collar emerged and let out a ferocious roar!

"Okay, everypony, follow my lead," Pinkie instructed and then after clearing her throat, she began to scream out! "Aagh! Run for your lives!"

"Oh my stars!" Rarity dramatically exclaimed! "What in the world is that thing?!"

"That's Cerberus," Twilight explained. "We studied him in Princess Celestia's school. He's supposed to be guarding the gates of Tartarus. You know, the place where they keep the worst criminals, the ones convicted of crimes against Equestria."

Rarity let out a gulp. "What's he doing here, then?! Looking for an escaped convict or something?!"

Twilight shook her head. "Not likely, Princess Celestia or the royal guard would've sent a note if that was the case. I don't think they're even aware Cerberus isn't at his post," Then she gasped as a realization struck the mare. "Of course! This must've been what my future self was trying to warn me about! If Cerberus isn't guarding the gates of Tartarus, who knows what kind of dangerous criminals will slip away and roam free?! She wanted me to be ready for him, so I could catch him and return him to Tartarus before that can happen!"

"B-but, how are you gonna take on that three headed beast? You'll be Cerberus' new chew toy!" Spike nervously stuttered and a cold sweat began to work its way down his body.

"Whoever said anything about taking him on?" Twilight commented with a wink and then gave a whistle. "Fluttershy, you know what to do!"

Fluttershy came swooping in and stared down Cerberus for but a moment, before she then leaped at him and tackled him into a great big hug. "Aw, who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?" She cooed. "You are, Cerberus. Yes you are. Yes you are." And she proceeded to give him a belly rub, which caused the dog to roll over and start shaking its hind paws.

"It's okay, everypony," Twilight called out. "Cerberus has been tamed. You can all stop panicking now," And then with a determined look on her face she declared. "I've got to get him back to Tartarus and do a head count! Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will need to know if any prisoners escaped."

But Spike immediately clung to Twilight's leg upon hearing such a thing, and he refused to let go of it. "Twilight, you can't go!" He pleaded! "Something bad could happen to you! And.. and if it does, I don't know what I'll do! Please, don't go, Mommy!"

Twilight felt her heart sink just a little as Spike began to tear up. How could she have forgotten how much she meant to Spike? She still needed to schedule that meeting with Mayor Mare to fill out the paperwork making Spike her official adopted son. Ever since she'd confessed how she felt about him during the Owlowiscious incident, they'd never truly been apart. Even on the occasions where Spike went to Canterlot to check in with Princess Celestia, he always took comfort in the knowledge that Twilight was a simple letter away.

That would not be the case here, a trip to Tartarus could take all day or maybe even longer. And regardless of how old he was in pony years, the unicorn had remember that he was still technically a baby dragon. But there were some things she could to help alleviate his concerns. "Tell you what, Spike?" She offered. "Send a letter to Princess Celestia informing her that Cerberus is here in Ponyville, and have her send whatever royal guards not currently on duty here to help me escort him back to Tartarus."

"Will do," Spike obliged. He quickly wrote down the letter and sent it with his fire breath. The reply was belched out moments later. "The guards are on their way."

"Excellent," Twilight smiled and then she turned to Rarity. "Rarity, I hate to ask such an important responsibility of you on such short notice, but..."

But the fashionista simply threw up a hoof in protest. "Say no more, darling, I know what you're about to ask. Of course I'll watch over little Spikey-Wikey for you while you're gone."

"Really? You'd do that even on top of your responsibilities as a fashion designer and big sister?" Twilight commented in surprise. "You don't have to do this, Rarity. I could easily get Fluttershy or Applejack to be with him until I get back."

Rarity shook her head. "I never turn my back on a friend in need, and you and Spike are most certainly in need," She firmly declared. "Whatever you need, I'll do my best to provide it. If it means babysitting Spike at the library, so be it. I don't have major fashion projects to work on at the moment anyway, just a few small projects I can easily shelve."

Spike, sensing an opportunity to be closer to his not so secret crush, quickly nodded his head in agreement. "Rarity's totally okay with me, Twilight. We'll be just fine."

"Are you sure, my son?" Twilight questioned. "I want to make sure I'm leaving you in capable hooves."

Spike nodded his head again. "Come on, Twilight. You wouldn't have asked Rarity if you didn't think she could handle it. I promise I won't try to stay up past my bedtime or weasel my way out of my chores while you're gone. I'll be on my best behavior."

Before Twilight could protest, a trio of royal guards descended and touched down in front of her. One removed his helmet and cleared his throat as he spoke. "Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia sends us with her highest regard. If you're ready we shall depart at once for Tartarus."

Reluctantly, Twilight consented to Spike's agreement. Though not before blowing him a kiss. "Take care, my son. I'll be back as soon as I can." She promised, and Spike and all of her friends waved until she and the royal guards were out of sight.





Twilight was gone for the rest of the day and into the night. Rarity did her best to provide for Spike and just in general to be there for him when he most needed a shoulder for emotional support.

When night time came and the clock struck the hour, Rarity gently tucked Spike into his basket in spite of the little dragon's protests. "Bed time is bed time, my precious little Spikey-Wikey," She softly cooed. "And you want to grow up to be big and strong, don't you?"

"But I'm not tired." Spike yawned. Yet somehow he found himself unable to keep from falling asleep. And in fact he slept soundly that night even though he expected to have nightmares about Twilight. He suspected that Princess Luna had a role to play in that but he couldn't be sure.

When Spike woke up the next morning he was both surprised and relieved to see that Twilight had already come back. "Good morning, Spike," She cheerfully greeted. "You'll be happy to know that with my help, the royal guards were able to put Cerberus back at his post before any criminals could escape. They're conducting a head count as we speak but they don't expect to find any prisoners missing."

Spike let out a yawn and stretched his claws. "I'm just glad you're okay," He said to the pony he'd come to consider his mother. "Don't ever run off on your adventures like that again. I really thought for sure something terrible was going to happen to you."

"I'll do my best to keep that in mind, Spike," Twilight reassured the little dragon. "But I hope you understand I won't be around forever. Someday we'll be apart, and you'll have to be able to go on without me."

"And I hope that 'someday' is far, far away." Spike declared.

Twilight nodded and decided to change the subject. "Okay," She happily smiled. "Now why don't I make you some breakfast and then-" But at that very moment the unicorn happened to pass by a mirror and got a good look at herself, namely her face. What she saw caused her to gasp! "Oh no!"

Filled with dread and worry, Spike clambered out of his basket and rushed to Twilight's location! "What is it, Twilight?!" He exclaimed with noticeable worry. "Are you hurt?!"

"No, it's worse!" Twilight answered as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Do you see this cut?"

"You mean the one on your left cheek?" Spike questioned, pointing a claw to the aforementioned red mark.

The unicorn began to complain. "Don't you see, Spike?! It's in the same place as the cut Future Twilight had on her face!"

"So, just put a bandage on it or something." Spike grumbled.

"That's not what's important, Spike!" Twilight protested as she continued to point at the cut. "This means the future didn't change! Whatever Future Twilight was trying to warn me about, it's still going to happen! I haven't prevented it all!"

Spike just sighed and put a claw to his face. "Twilight, you're perfectly fine. You probably just got that cut while tending to Cerberus. It doesn't mean anything."

"Then why is it in the exact same spot as Future Twilight's scar?!" Twilight audibly complained! "It surely can't be coincidence!"





Some time passed and Twilight continued to worry. In fact it was all she did. "How could this have happened? Why did this happen?" She could be heard saying. "I did everything I possibly could've to prevent disaster, the future should have changed."

Spike couldn't help but giggle. "Well I don't know much about the future but all your pacing is wearing a huge groove in the floor. We'll have to replace the floor boards."

Twilight didn't appear to acknowledge Spike's snarky comment even though the groove was there for all to see. "Spike, I don't have time for one of your lectures," She simply said in reply. "This is serious!"

"I know, you're gonna wear your way all the way into the ground if you keep this up!" Spike teased.

"You're supposed to be helping me, Spike!" The unicorn growled. "Come on, help a pony out here," But then a sudden burst of realization struck her. "Wait a minute, Future Twilight's last words said 'Whatever you do, don't-'. I thought she meant don't let something happen. But maybe she meant don't do something because it will cause a disaster to happen."

"You mean besides the huge groove in the floor?" Spike quipped with a raised eyebrow. "Seriously, Twilight, just put a bandage on the cut and stop worrying."

But Twilight shook her head. "I'm not putting a bandage on a small cut, I'll look silly! And it won't change what it means. However, I know now how I can prevent that terrible future from happening," And she proudly declared. "Maybe it's not what I do but what I don't do. If I just stand here and don't move a muscle until next Tuesday morning, I won't be able to do whatever it is Future Twilight was about to warn me not to do."

"Seriously? You're just gonna stand there and do NOTHING?" The little dragon questioned. "You're not gonna move at all?" When the pony he was so closely attached to nodded he decided to tease. "Really? Not even to get something to eat? Or go to sleep? Or use the bathroom?"

"Okay, okay, so maybe I won't stand completely still until next Tuesday morning but you know what I meant," The unicorn angrily remarked. "And you can just explain that to anypony who stops by to see me."

Spike, however, being the naughty dragon that he was sensed an opportunity for mischief. A chance to have a little fun at Twilight's expense and do things he knew she would never let him do. He hoped that perhaps he might anger her enough to move and put a stop to his behavior, and then she'd realize just how silly it was to fret about this whole Future Twilight thing.

To that end the little dragon went into the kitchen and returned shortly with an entire carton of ice cream and a spoon. He held them in front of Twilight, trying his hardest not to laugh at hard she was already sweating (as a result of resisting the urge to move). "So aside from the things you mentioned earlier, you're not gonna move at all? Not even if I were to... say... eat this entire carton of ice cream?" He proceeded to use his claws to open the lid and then dig his spoon into the delicious, frozen treat.

True to her word, Twilight didn't budge. But she did mouth out in protest. "Spike... stop... think of the tummy ache you'll get."

But Spike simply laughed and went on eating while saying. "That's Future Spike's problem, and boy do I pity him," In between spoonfuls of ice cream he taunted. "You know there's only one way to stop me."

"I'm not moving, Spike! Not even if you wanna stuff your face full of ice cream!" Twilight protested. "Eat all you want, you'll be sorry! And I'll just say 'I told you so.'"

"Whatever, your loss." Spike shrugged and went back to eating.





Sometime later the front door of the Golden Oak Library swung open, and who should come trotting in but Rainbow Dash? "Hey, Twilight," She called, the pegasus was unaware of what Twilight was up to (or Spike for that matter). "Haven't heard from you since you got back from Tartarus, Applejack was getting worried. So I thought I'd stop by and-" The brash speedster with a coat of pale, light grayish cerulean paused as her moderate violet eyes beheld a most unusual sight.

Twilight stood in the middle of a huge groove near the wooden horse head in the center of the library, sweating considerably but refusing to move. And Spike was eating an entire carton of ice cream.

"Uh, Twilight, not that I mean to question your parenting skills but why are you letting Spike eat ice cream?" Rainbow questioned. "I'm pretty sure that's gonna lead to a stomach ache."

But Spike laughed and explained. "Twilight's not moving a muscle, aside from eating, sleeping, and using the bathroom. She thinks it's gonna prevent that horrible disaster Future Twilight was trying to warn her about. As long as I get all the ice cream I can eat out of it, I don't really care."

The pegasus snickered as word of this desperate plot reached her ears. "Oh this is too rich!" And she immediately pointed a hoof and shouted! "Twilight, quick, look behind you! A giant spider!" And then she burst into fits of laughter as her eyes watered.

Spike was giggling too. "Wait, wait," He said between chuckles. "I have a better idea." He proceeded to grab a feather from a nearby shelf and started to tickle Twilight all over.

"That is pure evil, Spike!" Rainbow taunted.

"Well, Twilight can make it stop at any time," Spike pointed out as he continued to tickle. "All she has to do is move."

But Twilight refused. The unicorn was still very much insistent on not moving in the hopes that doing so would prevent that horrible future Future Twilight had tried to warn her about. She had to admit it was getting harder and harder not to move though, between Rainbow's snickers and Spike's tickles (not to mention her own achy and twitchy muscles) her laser like focus was start to crack. Not moving at all was harder than it looked.

All of a sudden Twilight's horn seemed to develop a mind all its own! The reddish-violet glow of her magic enveloped Spike and tossed him! In the heat of the moment Spike let out a huge belch and he gasped as his flame breath rushed toward Twilight! Poor Twilight barely had time to throw up a protective shield before the blast hit her and she let out a scream of pain!

Spike was horrified and so was Rainbow Dash! "Oh no!" Spike exclaimed as he held his face with his claws!

"What?" Twilight questioned in a tone of voice that sounded more like a growl. "What happened, Spike?"

"I am SO sorry, Twilight, really!" The little dragon apologized. And he showed Twilight what she looked like in a mirror. Her mane and tail were singed slightly around the edges and now stood straight up. In short, they looked just the same way they had appeared on Future Twilight.

Upon seeing this Twilight let out a scream! "This can't be! Doing things didn't work, and now not doing things didn't work! How can this be?!"

"I don't know," Rainbow answered as sympathetically as she could. "But if your mane style's the problem just go brush it or something, then you won't look like Future Twilight anymore."

"I guess it couldn't hurt to try." The unicorn replied and teleported to her bathroom to do just that. Rainbow decided that there was nothing more she could do in the library and left to inform Applejack.

Twilight teleported back to the center of the library a short time later, displaying to Spike a very worn out and battered brush! "Urgh!" She groaned as she tossed the brush aside! "I tried and tried and TRIED but that mane refused to be tamed! It's stuck like this, and that means I'm one step closer to that horrible future my future self was trying to prevent! Is there anything I can or can't do to prevent it?!"





After that no one saw Twilight for several days. She did not venture outside the library (or if she did no one ever saw her) and the few who tried to access the library to find out what was going on were all turned away.

Most ponies in Ponyville were convinced that the entire ordeal was over, Twilight had stopped obsessing over that future self and was no doubt wrapped up in some other pursuit.

Applejack knew better. "I don't like it, not one bit," She spoke to her friends at an urgent meeting held at Sweet Apple Acres. "Twilight's been too quiet."

"Are we sure she hasn't simply given up and was too ashamed to admit she made a big ordeal out of nothing?" Rarity pondered.

"Seems like an awfully long time to stay quiet if that's the case," Fluttershy nervously commented. "But how do we find out what she's been up to, and more importantly how do we get her to come to her senses? Whatever bad thing happens next Tuesday morning, it couldn't have that bad."

"What makes you say that, Fluttershy?" Rainbow questioned her fellow pegasus. "Twilight's completely off her rocker here."

Fluttershy simply explained. "Don't any of you think that if whatever happens by next Tuesday morning is so important that Future Twilight wants the outcome changed, she would've traveled back in time again to send a proper warning?"

"She has a point there." Pinkie nodded her head in agreement.

Applejack was not convinced. "Maybe so but this is Twilight we're talkin' about here. After what happened with that 'Want It Need It Spell' fiasco, I'd rather not take chances," And with that she declared. "Somepony here is gonna have to go over and check on Twilight."

Pinkie Pie quickly volunteered, Twilight may not have been her closest friend but the party pony still felt a special attachment to her due to the fact that Pinkie had been the first friend Twilight had made in Ponyville. Besides, it always seemed like something was going on and Twilight usually knew it was or what could be done about it.

Rapping a hoof against the door, Pinkie wasn't sure whether to expect a reply. She got one when the door swung open and to her surprise she discovered a huge assortment of maps, charts, graphs, and big telescopes. Something was most definitely up with Twilight, the only question now was what.

"Oh good, you're here!" Twilight fondly exclaimed to Pinkie (the party pony found it hard not to notice her friend's bloodshot and beady eyes, and the bandage wrapped around her head). "I already know your 'Pinkie Sense' can't tell me what's going to happen on Tuesday morning, but that got to me thinking, Pinkie: Doing things didn't work, not doing things didn't work, and I know I had no way to predict the future. So that left me with but one option. Monitor everything, and I DO mean everything!"

"O...kay?" Pinkie nervously and uncertainly replied. "So... uh... Twilight, when was the last time you slept?"

The unicorn gave off a goofy laugh. "You're so silly, Pinkie! I haven't slept a wink since Future Twilight showed up! Far too much to worry about to get any rest! Believe me, I've tried!"

Spike, meanwhile, simply commented. "Don't mind what Twilight says, she hasn't been herself since a flower pot hit her on the head yesterday. Nurse Redheart examined her and said she should be fine, but it was best if Twilight kept the bandage on until after Tuesday," And then he added. "She's been obsessed with all sorts of 'signs', but me, all I care about is how much ice cream I can eat before this all has to end."

"You're just in time to help me check my work, Pinkie!" Twilight laughed. "After all, there's only three days left until Tuesday morning! And then I can sleep all I want!"

Now it was the pink party pony's turn to laugh. "Twilight, you silly filly. Spike was right, you're not yourself. Tuesday isn't three days away, it's tomorrow."

Twilight's blood-shot blue eyes widened in realization of this fact! "What?! How come no one told me sooner?!" She frantically exclaimed as she teleported over to one of her giant telescopes. "Have you recalibrated and readjusted the telescope observing the dark side of the sun?"

"I have no idea." Pinkie innocently and honestly answered.

"Thanks for nothing," The unicorn grumbled and began to move the telescope. But she ended up looking into as it was aimed directly at the sun! The glare struck her eye and she let out a cry! "Gah, my eye!"

Pinkie quickly leaped into action! "D-don't worry, Twilight!" She quickly called, pulling an eye-patch out from the fireplace! "I have eye-patches stashed all over Ponyville, in case of eye-patch emergencies," Placing it over her friend's right eye, the party pony then brought over a mirror to show the unicorn what she looked like. "There. Now you look like a pirate," She commented in the hopes of cheering up her injured friend. "A really sleepy pirate with a messed up mane and a head bandage."

But all Twilight saw was more similarities between herself and her bad future counterpart. "Oh no, more signs! Even monitoring everything is not enough," She ominously declared. "I hate to do this but I have no other choice if I want to prevent whatever horrible thing happens next morning. I'll just have to-" She paused for but a moment before she added. "Stop time!"

"Is that even possible?" Spike wondered aloud.

"Of course it's possible!" Twilight firmly replied. "My future self mentioned that the time travel spells are kept in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot Archives. But at night the entire archives are locked up and guarded. They'll never just let us in."

"Not even if we say 'Pretty please with a hot fudge sundae and cherry on top?'" Pinkie questioned.

Twilight shook her head. "Not even that. There's only one way we're gonna be able to get inside without drawing attention."





Late that night the entire city of Canterlot was asleep, no lights shone in the buildings and the city street lights were the only source of illumination. But no one would've thought anything of a train pulling into the station. If they had been looking though, they might have seen three figures cloaked in black, flexible stealth suits depart.

Said figures were Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie (who was mostly along for the fun though she also hoped to maybe reign Twilight in if she went too far). Spike was complaining. "I don't see what the point of these stealth suits are, Twilight. I mean, it's not illegal to sneak around Canterlot after dark. This isn't prison."

"I thought we were wearing them just for the fun of it." Pinkie commented.

"There's nothing fun about this," Twilight snapped back in protest. "Now be quiet or you'll give us away. Sneaking into the Canterlot archives may not exactly be breaking any laws, but stealing a time travel spell from it certainly is."

The three made their way through Canterlot in silence, but Twilight kept insisting on weaving through branches and bushes to avoid being spotted by any stray guards. Before long they were able to reach the archives only to find the front door guarded, two pegasi clad in dark blue armor and with spears at the ready barred the way. It didn't seem like they would budge.

So instead the trio snuck in through an open window. "This is fun!" Pinkie briefly exclaimed before she remembered she was supposed to be quiet and whispered. "Can we climb in through the window again, Twilight?"

"Not now, Pinkie!" Twilight harshly whispered back. "You've gotta help me find the Starswirl the Bearded section! Quickly, time is running out! Tuesday morning will be upon us soon and I must find a time travel spell before then!"

But Pinkie laughed. "Oh Twilight, you silly filly, there's no need to look for it. It's right there, just across the hallway. Haven't you ever been here before?"

"Yeah, once or twice when I was a filly," Twilight acknowledged. "But I never ventured far. I didn't even know Starswirl the Bearded had a wing to himself. Shouldn't have surprised me though, Starswirl just about did every magical feat under the sun. I find it odd Princess Celestia doesn't talk about him more even though she was one of his many students."

But just then Spike pointed a claw down the hallway and nervously commented. "Uh, Twilight, we've got company!"

The unicorn mare began to panic! "Oh no, a guard!" She gasped in fright! "And there's nowhere to hide! We're trapped!" 

The beam of light that had caught Spike's (and Twilight's) attention soon manifested its source in the form of a unicorn stallion with a very recognizable white coat. He had a moderate sapphire blue mane and tail with shades of darker and lighter blue in waves, not to mention moderate cerulean eyes and a cutie mark consisting of a purple shield that had a pink six pointed star on it and three smaller, light blue stars above it. Compared to the guards from earlier, he wore a purple helmet and a matching purple colored set of armor. It was Shining Armor, Twilight's older brother!

Shining was surprised but also amused to see his little sister in the Canterlot archives, adorned in a torn (and rather tacky looking) black stealth suit, an eye-patch, a head bandage, and a mane and tail that looked like they'd gone days without a proper brushing. "Twily?" He innocently inquired.

"B.B.B.F.F?" Twilight nervously replied, worried that her brother might rat her out.

A dopey grin formed on Shining's face as he snickered. "Sneaking into the archives after dark again, huh? I see old habits die hard. Don't worry, I won't tell anypony."

"Oh thank you, B.B.B.F.F! You really ARE the best big brother ever!" Twilight happily exclaimed as she embraced her older brother in a hug. But then a fierce blush formed on her cheeks as she added. "Uh, I hate to ask, but could you do me just a teeny tiny little favor?"

"I don't see why not. What can I do for my favorite little filly?" Shining declared in his best big brother tone possible. 

His little sister quickly replied. "Do you think you could... maybe open up the Starswirl the Bearded wing for me? I uh... just wanna take a peak inside."

Shining stepped back in uncertainty. "I don't know, Twily," He stroked his chin with a hoof. "I could get into a lot of trouble if Princess Celestia or anypony else finds out about this."

"Don't worry, I can keep an secret too you know," Twilight said with a wink. "Please, big brother? I promise I won't be long."

For several long minutes Shining was silent and he spoke not a word. He just pondered his dilemma while he continued to stroke his chin with a hoof. But at last he reluctantly commented. "Well... I... suppose it wouldn't hurt to look the other way... just this once. But you have to promise you won't take anything from it, and that you'll put everything back the way it was before you leave," He then levitated out a set of keys, walked over to the locked door of the Starswirl the Bearded wing, and inserted the key into the lock. With a click the door opened. The stallion quickly returned the set of keys to the pocket from which he'd pulled it. "Remember, nopony must know about this, or we'll both be in a lot of trouble." He again advised his sister.

"Don't worry, B.B.B.F.F," Twilight nodded. "Your secret's safe with me." And then she, Spike, and Pinkie Pie all rushed inside the now opened wing.

"Wait, Twily! Before you go, there's something important I need to tell you!" Shining called but it was too late, his sister was gone. The stallion just sighed to himself and hung his head. "That's twice now I missed my chance. I sure hope I'll get another opportunity before the big day arrives." And then he departed, resuming his nightly patrols.





Once inside the wing, Twilight happened to pass by a mirror and finally saw for herself that she looked just like Future Twilight. "Oh no, this is terrible! It's like I've become Future Twilight herself!" She nervously commented with worry.

"And that's bad, right?" Pinkie asked even though she knew the answer.

Twilight just nodded in response. "Come on, there's not much time left until it's Tuesday morning! We need to find a time travel spell that'll let me stop time until I can prevent whatever's about to happen!"

The three searched high and low throughout the archives, pulling out scrolls of all sorts. But none held the solution Twilight needed.

At last time ran out, in the distance came the faint but familiar rays of Celestia's sun! "No no no no no!" Twilight nervously pranced back and forth. "It's Tuesday morning, and I haven't prevented whatever I was supposed to prevent! It's over, we're done for! Incoming!" The unicorn dove to the floor as Celestia's sun began to rise, waiting for whatever big disaster was about to unfold.

Moments passed but nothing happened. Twilight slowly and reluctantly raised her head. "That's weird," She commented to herself. "Did I somehow change the future after all? Did something I did or didn't do prevent whatever Future Twilight was trying to warn me about?"

"Or maybe there never was a horrible future," Spike suggested. "Maybe you just imagined the whole thing from stress."

"But it had to be real! How else could I have known about the Starswirl the Bearded section or the time travel spells?" Twilight protested. "If it was all an illusion, how would I have known to come here?"

Just then Princess Celestia came trotting past and cheerfully called to her student. "Good morning, Twilight. Love the new mane style."

Twilight jumped and flinched! "P-Princess Celestia!" She stuttered! "I know you what think but this isn't what it looks like! I was just... just..." She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

"Sneaking into the Starswirl the Bearded section after dark?" Celestia teased. "You always were a curious one, and you're certainly not the first student of mine to seek out exclusive knowledge."

"You're... not mad at me?" Twilight pondered in confusion. Celestia's tone didn't sound at all like strict or stern, it sounded rather warm and even kind of playful.

Celestia laughed as she threw back her head. "Of course I'm not mad with you, Twilight, you silly filly. I know you well enough to know you wouldn't think of taking anything from this section," In a more serious tone of voice she added. "If the spells here ever fell into the wrong hooves, talons, or other extremities, we'd all be in serious trouble. That's why knowledge of this section is on a strict, need-to-know basis. I'll overlook your trespassing in here, seeing as you were just being curious. But next time I expect a heads up before you go snooping around the archives. Just because you're my student doesn't mean you can do whatever you want. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Princess Celestia," Twilight bowed. "I'm sorry. I should've asked you for permission."

"May I ask what brought this on? You do know it's not Nightmare Night, right?" The sun princesses commented as she raised an eyebrow. Her student was quick to reply. "It's a long story, but I do know one thing. I look completely ridiculous."

Just then Spike let out a huge groan and clutched his stomach. "Oh!" He complained as he lay on the floor. "I thought the side effects of all that ice cream was Future Spike's problem. But now I am Future Spike! Ugh, I don't feel so good!" Then all of a sudden, without warning, the little dragon let out a tremendous belch! A belch so strong and so powerful, it shook the ground not unlike a small earthquake! The vibrations were enough to cause several scrolls on the shelves to fall down and scatter on the floor!

In the process, one of the scrolls landed at Pinkie's hooves. She took one look at it and her eyes lit up! Tossing said scroll to Twilight she explained. "I think I've found what you're looking for! It doesn't stop time but it does let you go back in time! It says it's only good for one trip and it only lasts a few minutes."

"Pinkie, you're a genius!" Twilight happily beamed as she took the scroll into her magical embrace. "Now I can go back in time and prevent any of this from ever happening! Wish me luck!" And then lighting up her horn, she disappeared in a blinding flash of white light!





Now in the same place that Future Twilight had occupied, the present Twilight shook her head and looked at Past Twilight.

"Who are you?" Past Twilight asked. "And why do you look like me?"

"Because I am you!" The present Twilight answered and then frantically pleaded. "I'm you from the future, and you have to listen to me!"

But Past Twilight only commented. "Wow! Time travel is a possibility! How did you, I mean I pull it off?"

"The time travel spells are in the Starswirl the Bearded section of the Canterlot archives, but that's not important!" Present Twilight protested. "What is important is that-"

Past Twilight interrupted. "Gosh, you look terrible. Is there some kind of horrible pony war in the distant future or something?"

"Actually, I'm from next Tuesday morning," Present Twilight explained. "But what you need to know is-"

"Does time travel hurt? Is it really okay to meet with your past self? Ooh, I have so many questions!" Past Twilight beamed! "I could write a whole paper on this!"

But the present Twilight inserted a hoof into Past Twilight's mouth to silence her. As she spoke her body started to glow bright white. "Just listen to me, I don't have much time!" She protested. "What I'm about to tell you is very important! Whatever you do, don't..."

Unfortunately at that very moment the spell wore off and present Twilight returned to the current Tuesday morning. Unaware of this she briefly shouted. "...Let Spike eat all the ice cream, he'll get sick and make a mess and..." But then she realized it was too late, her warning had been cut off. "Ugh! Great!" She complained. "Now my past self is gonna worry herself sick all week about next Tuesday morning and the disaster that's never going to come!"

"But if you went back to warn your past self and changed the future in the process, wouldn't we cease to exist?" Pinkie questioned. "Isn't that how time travel works?"

"That's one school of theory, Pinkie," Twilight began to explain. "But the thing is, by me traveling back in time to warn my past self I led to the circumstances that caused myself to believe future me was from a bad timeline and that some kind of disaster was going to happen by next Tuesday morning. And then my past self became my future self and my future self became my present self, and then..." She groaned. "Urgh, thinking is making my brain hurt! And now I've gone all cross-eyed!"

"Now do you understand why the time travel spells are so heavily guarded and explicitly forbidden to use?" Princess Celestia commented to Twilight. "Trying to mess with the flow of time can produce all kinds of ripple effects. It can be possible in some cases to create entirely different timelines."

Spike, meanwhile, just continued to groan. "Future self, past self, I don't care. All I care about is getting home! I think I'm gonna be sick for a whole week!"

"Well it would serve you right for eating all that ice cream, my son," Twilight motherly teased. "I told you you'd be sorry," And she then lifted the little dragon onto her back. "Come on, let's get you home and into bed. And from now on, let's both agree not to worry so much about the future. It's more important to focus on the present."