"Another day, another black hole over the Crystal Empire," AJ said.
Jack nodded his head in agreement. He and Applejack were racing past the panicking ponies that were fleeing from the center of their empire, where a massive ball of darkness was sucking in everything around it. Normally such a sight would cause panic and fear within most ponies, but Jack and AJ both knew the reason behind the sight.
"Think Cadence has given up on her daughter learning alicorn magic yet?" AJ asked.
"Of course not. No mother ever gives up on their child. But I will admit," Jack said as the pair reached the other Ambassadors, all of who were using their power to try to contain the darkness. "That perhaps another method of tutoring should be used."
"Jack. Applejack. Thank goodness the both of you are here," Cadence said, running over to the two of them. "I don't understand how this happened. One moment Flurry was doing fine with her spells and the next there's a massive time vortex forming in the middle of the Crystal Empire!"
"That's not a black hole?"
"No, we were practicing time magic and she suddenly lost control. I don't know why, but now everything in the crystal empire is being aged by centuries! I have no idea how to stop it."
"Well this wouldn't be the first of her spells that we've had to stop and ah doubt it will be the last," AJ said as she cracked her neck, rainbow power flowing through her veins. "Jack, stay back, would ya? Ah don't want ya getting hurt as we do this. Brace yerselves girls, cause her comes Applejack!"
"Hold on!" Cadence yelled, stopping the orange mare in her tracks. "There's something else. This is different from all of Flurry's previous spells. She's...at the epicenter of this one."
"She's in the center of all of that?" Jack asked.
"Yes. Her magic is what is generating the time vortex. My sister and her other friends already know this, which is why they're trying to contain it. But at the rate this is going, it seems that the rainbow magic may not be enough to stop this without...without..."
"Well ah'm here now. And ah promise ah'll get yer daughter back," AJ promised. She raced past Cadence and joined the rest of her friends, nodding at them before she added her own Rainbow power to the mix. The magic swirled around all of them as its now complete power consumed the time vortex, halting its advance. Yet even though the black hole was no longer growing, Jack could see that it was not shrinking either.
"The black hole continues to persist. What magical might your daughter wields," Jack said.
"I know. And she's only been getting stronger," Cadence whispered. The Rainbow power continued to combat the magical might of the vortex, yet all the Ambassadors could achieve was a stalemate. "It's no good. The Rainbow power can hold back her magic, but without removing her from the center she'll just continue to power it!"
"Will she not eventually run out of magic?" Jack asked.
"In all of the tests we've done on her, never once have we been able to find her maximum limit for her magic," Cadence replied. "Her magical might is already above mine at this point. I can't do anything to help my sister or my own daughter. Faust help me I'm so useless!"
Jack frowned at the princess, not knowing what to say to comfort her. He couldn't begin to imagine how she was suffering. He turned his gaze back to the battle, only to widen his eyes when he saw that once more the vortex was growing. The Ambassadors were pouring all of their rainbow might into it, yet it continued to grow. Flurry was beginning to overpower the Rainbow power. Something needed to be done.
"What if I went into the vortex and retrieved her?" Jack asked.
"Are you crazy?! Do you have any idea what a time vortex would do to you?" Cadence asked. "It could flatten and stretch you, warp you across time or just kill you in an instant! In order to survive that kind of force you would have to have an alicorn's magic at least, and even then there is no guarantee that you would survive!"
"You have that magic. You can use it to protect me," Jack replied. "We do not have time to argue. With every second the strength of that spell grows stronger and becomes a greater risk to your daughter. The Rainbow power can only hold it off. Unless something is done about your daughter..."
"Then I should go. She's my daughter and I won't risk your life. You have a daughter of your own to look after," Cadence replied.
"My daughter is a samurai. She understands that meaning of death and loss. While my death would be disheartening to her, she would understand and accept my decision here. But your daughter still needs you. Still needs to be taught by you. If you die, you will leave this world with regrets. I will have none."
Cadence thought it over for a moment, before she sighed and unleashed all of her magical might around Jack. A pink suit of armor formed around him, covering him in a magic strong enough to withstand almost anything. Jack took a moment to figure out how to move in the suit before nodding to Cadence, a silent promise to succeed. Then he was off.
He raced past the Ambassadors of Harmony, taking only a moment to lock eyes with his wife as he passed her. Three emotions quickly flashed across her face. The first was surprise. The second was fear. Then the third was determination. Jack couldn't help but smile. Even after all of these years together, she still understood him better than anypony else. She didn't want him to do this. But she would do her best to make sure he prevailed. Right as Jack was about to reach the vortex, AJ let out a roar and unleashed whatever reserves of power she had left, giving Jack a path straight into the vortex. She was too good for him. Then, without a second thought, he leapt in.
The vortex began to flash uncontrollably, causing magic to spew out of it in every direction. The Ambassadors switched their magic from offensive to defensive, wrapping themselves and the princess in a barrier of rainbow power. They watched with baited breath as the vortex churned and convulsed, before finally, in one last whimper, it popped out of existence. And at the base of where it had once stood lay two figures. An alicorn and a pony covered in pink armor.
"Flurry!"
"Jack!"
Cadence and Applejack ran to their respective pony, crouching down next to them and pulling them into a hug.
"Flurry, daughter, saying something," Cadence begged.
"Something," Flurry groaned. Cadence let out a small laugh of relief as he daughter opened her eyes, blinking with confusion before she looked around. "Oh great, my magic went out of control again, didn't it? Ugh, what's the damage this time?"
"You create a time vortex and nearly destroyed the Crystal Empire by wiping out time itself," Twilight said. Flurry looked up at her aunt, who was using her horn to scan the alicorn mare. "And that's not to say what affect that it had on you. Flurry, do you have any memory of what happened while you were in there?"
"No, not really. All I remember is a bunch of images whirling around my head, like I was watching a movie that was going way too fast," Flurry groaned. The mare tried to sit up, but Cadence placed a hoof on her chest and pushed her back down.
"No my dear, you need to rest. You've gone through quite an ordeal," Cadence said.
"Mom, I'm fine, trust me," Flurry replied.
"No, you are not fine. You've gone through something that might kill anypony else. Please, just listen to your mother and rest," Cadence said.
"I'm twenty four, not three. You don't have to worry so much," Flurry replied, before smiling at her mom. "But I'm glad to see you still care."
"Actually, that's not entirely true," Twilight said. Cadence and Flurry looked at her to see she had a grim look on her face. "I scanned you with my magic and while you're physically fine...you're not twenty four any more. While it was only a little while for your mind, in actuality...you were in there for over a hundred years. You're a hundred and twenty four now."
"Buh...but that can't be! I don't look any...oh right...alicorn," Flurry said with a smirk. "Guess I'll retain my good looks for a lot longer than a hundred years, huh?"
"You silly mare, you should be...wait...a hundred years...oh Faust, Jack!"
Cadence rose and spun around to race over to where Jack lay, with Twilight close behind her. The other Ambassadors had all gathered around her, with AJ having the samurai in a tight hug. So tight that neither Twilight or Cadence could really see him.
"He wasn't in there as long as her, Twilight. Maybe the time vortex didn't affect him as much?" Cadence asked. Twilight let a purple light scan Jack, before she shook her head with fear on her face.
"I'm afraid that even though it was short for us, Jack was still in there for the same hundred years Flurry was," Twilight revealed. She then walked over to AJ and placed a wing on her shoulder." Applejack, I'm so sorry. But maybe we can find a way to reverse the aging or-"
"Aging? What are ya talking about," AJ asked as she looked up at Twilight. "Jack's fine. He's just tired and needed a moment to rest."
Twilight looked at her friend with shock before she looked around her at Jack, who was still being cradled in Applejack's arms. Aside from the exhaustion that was on his face, Jack didn't look any older than when he had gone in. In fact, for the first time Twilight noticed that Jack didn't look a day older than the day they had met...more than twenty years ago.
"There is no need to worry, Twilight. I am fine," Jack said to Twilight.
"No you two, there is something wrong with Jack," Twilight whispered. "And I think I've finally figured out what it is."