Twilight Sparkle mourns in silence, waiting for shackles to clamp onto her hooves, or a collar around her neck, or even an executioner’s blade. Anything would be preferable to being left with just her thoughts. They speak only of condemnation. And they are right, I am a murderer, I should be locked in Tartarus for this. I only wish I could have spoken to him one last time.
But it was necessary! A part of her mind argues. He knew it, and accepted it. What choice did we have?
I refuse to believe that! There must have been another way! I should have been more in control, I should have realized that he was trying to provoke me, to goad me into trying harder!
It worked, didn’t it? He was willing to go that far. How can you be so soft as to not?
The sound of wind rustling through the trees arouses Twilight from the depths of her self-recrimination. Then comes a young mare’s voice: barely out of her fillyhood, yet with a harshness far beyond her years. It brooks no hesitation or falsehood as it rings out from next to her.
“Phoebe predicted there would be three arriving. Where are the other two?!”
The shout startles Twilight, her mouth answering even though no sound comes out. “I came alone, unless you speak of my foals.” A hoof goes to her belly - or tries to, her limbs unresponsive. Despite the connection to her horn being blocked she can still feel their presence, and she breathes a heavy sigh of relief. They live; did that mean I failed? Or that I have another chance?
The sounds of the alicorn pacing around her reach Twilight’s ears, but little else. Her tones seems to have mellowed slightly, which means she’s slightly better than the worst Dash put out when training her. “Well, that wasn’t the activation to a stored spell. And attempting anything like that would be unwise.” The last word is spoken directly into Twilight’s ear, hot breath tingling the hair.
Twilight attempts to nod, mouthing the words I understand. She feels the bindings against her limbs fade, her throat loosens, yet her horn and eyes remain unresponsive.
“I will ask again,” the mare says. “Where are the other two?”
“I came alone,” Twilight repeats, “unless you speak of my foals.” Her hoof slowly moves down her side, trying not to provoke a response, rubbing the slight bulge.
“Twins?” comes the surprised response. Her voice no longer seems directed at Twilight, and there is a long pause. “Yes, that would satisfy. Who is the sire?”
“Doug,” Twilight replies. She frowns at the sharp intake of breath. “My name is Twilight Sparkle,” Twilight says meekly in the absence of anything else. “What can I call you?”
The mare is silent for several long seconds. Her voice wavers, “My name is Selene.”
Twilight’s eyes go wide as she gasps. “That is what Celestia would have named her foal, until Luna returned!”
“Doug was amenable to it,” Selene says guardedly.
“Doug lives?” Twilight nearly shouts, blindly jumping up. “How? He died! After I...” Twilight drops back down, sobbing again, covering her head with her hooves.
A hoof gently strokes her mane. “Celestia traced your spell, arriving just in time to save him.” Scales fall from Twilight’s eyes, her sight returning. The white alicorn stands almost muzzle to muzzle, inspecting her closely. “You speak of Luna returning. How?”
Twilight gazes back through teary eyes, unabashedly searching the young mare in front of her. If she had to guess, the same age as Scootaloo and the other Crusaders, but larger. Long, regal lines of her head and muzzle. The way she holds herself, commanding awe and respect just by existing. How her mane billows, though she likens it more to a torch than an aurora. Selene is the spitting image of Celestia, exactly what she thinks a foal of Doug’s would look like, full of youthful vigor and, Twilight notes wryly, pregnant.
“We were in Ponyville,” Twilight says, now more curious than afraid. “Myself and my new Friends. Nightmare Moon returned, as foretold, so we journeyed to the Castle of the Two Sisters, recovered the Elements of Harmony, and they cleansed Luna of the Nightmare.”
“We only ever found the five, and even then...” Selene whispers, staring off into the Everfree as if lost in a dream. Or a Nightmare.
“We?” Twilight ventures, now nearly consumed by her thirst for knowledge. How else did this world differ from my own?
Selene looks around, scanning their surroundings, then glances up. Princess Celestia hovers high above them, stony expression unreadable. “I wish to free her.”
“I trust your judgement, as always,” comes the instant reply, directly into Twilight’s head.
Selene’s horn glows white, and Twilight feels the connection to her horn return. It starts as pinpricks of pain, like she had fallen asleep on her foreleg, but soon becomes the warm embrace of a long-lost herdmate, returning to her place. She still feels exhausted from the ordeal, both mentally and physically, but whole. She breathes a long sigh of relief, offering the Princess a low bow.
“Stand,” commands the Sun Princess as she lands. “Are you fit to travel?”
“Yes,” replies Twilight, and the three disappear in a golden burst of magic.
They arrive in the Celestial throne room, though there is no second seat on the raised dais for Princess Luna. Instead six seats form a half circle in front, and Twilight recognizes Selene’s cutie mark on the inner left. The rest draw no recognition. The young alicorn automatically walks towards it before turning to face Twilight. Princess Celestia seems to fade into the background, though if Twilight concentrates she can locate her sitting on her throne.
“Why did you come here?” Selene demands, harsher than before, though Twilight senses a touch of bombast, as if she is putting on an act. “What calamity would require his death?”
“Are you familiar with Tirek and Discord?” Twilight asks; no longer cowed, but as a teacher to a inquisitive student.
“Tartarus holds the renegade centaur, and Discord stands petrified in the gardens.” Selene’s posture relaxes, though her eyes narrow, almost automatically accepting the change in roles. “They escaped, and worked together?”
“Sort of. Chaos magic freed the draconequus, and he in turn freed the centaur. Then, through an… unforeseen combination of their magic, Doug was imbued with Tirek’s power and unable to shut it off. It spread through physical contact, and threatened to kill all of ponykind.” Twilight looks away shyly. “Actually, it still does.”
“And you thought that by coming back in time and killing Doug, it would prevent this?” Selene shakes her head, “But wouldn’t you merely change the future you were returning to, and not actually solve the problem?”
“Um,” Twilight says, glancing to the six thrones surrounding her, “Sort of?”
Selene closes her eyes as she sighs heavily. “Well, I suppose if it wasn’t for your… ill-fated attempt on Doug’s life, he would never have met my dam. And sired myself and my sisters.”
“You don’t know how happy it makes me, for that to have turned out well.” Twilight smiles, her body shaking as she takes a few haggard breaths.
“Indeed,” Selene replies, drawing herself upright and assuming the role of lecturer. “Neither Discord nor Tirek has escaped, though perhaps we should take steps to ensure neither does so. How did Discord escape in your time?”
“Chaos magic. From the monster that attacked Ponyville.”
“Ponyville?” Selene says, her eyes flicking back as if used to looking to Celestia for confirmation, though her head doesn’t turn from Twilight. “It was lost to the Everfree about three and a half years ago. Evacuated after a multipronged attack of chaos magic infected the surrounding area.”
“That was the attack. But what happened to Applejack? Rarity and Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy?”
“Of those, Rainbow Dash is the only name I recognize, as the fastest sprinter among the Wonderbolts. She moonlights as our flight instructor on occasion, when Instructor Fire Streak gets injured.” Selene turns a bit to the side, letting Celestia continue.
“The Apples of Ponyville continue to brave the nearby Everfree at Sweet Apple Acres, or what is left of it. I believe Fluttershy remains as well. Rarity moved to Manehatten, where she works tirelessly to make ends meet in her own boutique. Pinkie Pie was last spotted in Las Pegasus, though legend says she appears by offering a cupcake and uttering the word… well, you can probably guess.”
Twilight grins, nodding. “That does sound like her.”
Celestia folds her hooves under her muzzle, watching Twilight closely. “Those five… are they the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony?”
“In my time, yes.” Twilight nods, and Celestia fades into the background again.
“And what saboteur brought the chaos magic here?” Selene asks.
“Um,” Twilight says, averting her eyes, though she has no thought to lie. “Doug’s three eldest fillies. Though they didn’t know it would happen.”
Selene’s eyes widen. She spins to stare at the Solar throne. “We have all been to Ponyville! Should we be the cause of his return, then-”
“I will send a message to the others.” Celestia looks to Twilight. “Did you use the Elements to contain him?”
“Yes,” Twilight says with a bit of hesitation. “I take it that isn’t an option for you?”
“We were never able to locate Magic, despite the six of us there.” Selene sits down in a more comfortable spot, ushering Twilight closer. “Perhaps it will be easiest if I start from the beginning.”
Twilight moves closer, laying down and making herself comfortable on the marble floor.
Selene begins, “A little more than eight years ago, Celestia noted a burst of dimensional magic. She located the source, east of here in the Hayseed Swamp, a temple. However, when a second burst appeared, she traveled there, finding Doug. Grievously injured, his life fading fast, she used her healing magic to seal the wound. He lived, though he suffered memory loss and partial paralysis. Celestia kept him healthy, along with Cadance. And, as she is fond of saying, one thing led to another.”
“I had never found quite the same draw to him as I felt with any other pony,” Celestia adds, “though that might have been the lack of Harmony telling me that it was yet another pony that I would not be able to conceive with.”
Selene continues, “At the site of his injury, Celestia detected traces of not only her own magic, but that of Twilight Sparkle, Cadance, and Princess Luna, though mixed together. She theorized only an alicorn, bent on consuming power throughout the multiverses would be capable of such an atrocity.”
“They volunteered me their power, to better fight that which was afflicting Doug,” Twilight hastens to add. “I did not steal it, and I have no intention of stealing yours.”
“Yes, but it plagued me from that day, the possibility.” Celestia nods to Selene, motioning to continue.
“And so, believing a rogue alicorn might strike again, Celestia took every measure she could to ensure our safety.” Selene smirks, pointedly not looking backwards as if they have had this conversation many a time, “Though she hates to admit it, Equestria has suffered under the regents and viceroys she appointed in order to spend more time training herself and us.”
“Who is us?” Twilight asks, smiling like she did every time Celestia read her a story, bedtime or not.
“Myself and Cadance’s first, Hedone. At one year younger, my sister Phoebe, Cadance’s second Hymenaeus, Sunset Shimmer’s Aurora, and…” Selene gulps, nervously looking at Twilight, “Twilight Sparkle’s, Hecate.”
“Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic?” Twilight ventures.
“That was the hope,” Selene confirms, “though our attempts proved futile at accessing the magic of Harmony. It could be because of our heritage; as you might have found, Harmony does not recognize Doug, and we have struggled in our training because of it. But we have persevered, and were able to overcome the Nightmare when she arose without their assistance.”
“But she was incredibly powerful, and not inclined to hold back,” Twilight says cautiously, staring at Selene with a new appreciation.
“And we had trained on taking on an alicorn, even one at full strength, all our lives.” Selene’s lips purse, “It made little difference fighting at Ponyville. As Doug might say, ‘you use different moves when you’re fighting half a dozen chaos spawn, than when you only have to be worried about one alicorn.’ But we kept the damage to a minimum, our casualties only injuries.”
“How likely would you be able to take on me?” Twilight asks, a bit of a confident swagger to her speech.
Selene regards her appraisingly. “I would give you three to one odds.”
Twilight’s face falls. “Really? But I have all this power…”
“Well, you were exhausted from your travel. Any of us can take Celestia if we get the drop on her, though Aurora and Hecate might struggle. And don’t mind taking over her royal duties for the next day or two.” Selene offers a half-smile backwards. “But, from what you said, you haven’t had this power all that long. And we’ve been training for this eventuality our whole lives, and have a considerable number of tricks and counter tricks at our disposal.”
Twilight nods along, her muzzle curling to a hopeful grin. “Do you think you could teach me?”
Selene’s muzzle curls just as wide.