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// 18 Job Security 
// Story: This Time for Good 
// by iisaw 
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A few weeks later, Twilight told herself that she would have been a terrible sovereign.

"Not right away," she said in her deeper, more mature voice. "You might have been fine for a generation or two, but then you'd be bored by the routine and wouldn't have been able to resist meddling."

"I—" The younger Twilight's voice cracked a bit. She paused and cleared her throat, feeling a bit envious of the older Twilight's silky tones.  She decided to mentally refer to her other self as Old Twilight to compensate. "I might have done just fine. Particularly now that I know how Evil Twilight went off the rails."

The elder alicorn shook her head slowly, sending lines of shimmering reflected lamplight cascading down her gently waving mane. Young Twilight decided to think of her as Decrepit Old Twilight. "You know how, but not why," the elder corrected her.

Young Twilight glanced at Spike for support. He shrugged. "I'm always ready to back you up, Twi," he said, poking at the last few gems left on his plate. "But…" He gestured toward both alicorns with an upraised palm and then shrugged again.

The elder Twilight blew him a playful kiss, which somewhat shocked the younger.

"Well, then," Twilight said, trying to keep her voice level and calm. "Do you know why? Maybe you could explain it to me."

Decrepit Old Twilight teleported the remains of their dinner off the table. There was no flash and crackle of wasted magical energy, no pop of inrushing air. The dishes and silverware vanished with a slight ripple, leaving only their cider goblets behind. The display of masterful magical subtlety was just one more reason for young Twilight to be pointlessly jealous. A glowing diagram appeared on the surface of the table. "This is the structure of a moyo crystal. They are only found in deep caverns beneath the Masimarea Rift where a very rare set minerals combine in unusual conditions to form them over the course of eons."

Young and Foolish Twilight studied the diagram closely. "It seems to have an inherently fractal structure. How large do these crystals grow? Can they be used for magical purposes? Do the—"

The diagram abruptly vanished. "There, you see? That is why you would make an awful ruler."

Twilight frowned. "Because I'm curious?"

"Yes. Curious, inventive, extremely intelligent, introverted, empathic, not just talented, but an actual polymath, and these are all horrible qualities for a politician. The best rulers are honest and hard working, true, but they also need to have the sort of mindset of a big, placid Earth Pony whose job is to turn a grain mill all day long… One who likes it. Otherwise, the job will drive them insane sooner or later."

Young Twilight felt a flush of anger, which she had to admit was an indication that her opponent had scored a point. "But Celestia is intelligent, far more intelligent that most ponies give her credit for, and for over a thousand years, she—"

"And how long did it take for the cracks to appear after her obsessive, millenia-long quest to save her sister was fulfilled, hmn? The risky and irresponsible way she let things fall out in the years after Luna returned wasn't exactly good stewardship, was it? She knew it. She wouldn't have nearly thrown the crown at you if she wasn't desperate to escape. She's a good pony. Moreover, she's a wise pony, and she knew she had to relinquish power before she caused or allowed some terrible disaster."

The dining hall was silent for a long while. The only sounds were those made by Spike as he drained and refilled his cider cup.

Finally, Twilight said, quietly, "You're not wrong, I suppose. In any case, the point is moot, now. Do you think Sunrise Aura will be a good princess?"

Elder Twilight smiled and sipped at her cider. "Well, you've had some time to get to know her. Imaginative and clever, is she?"

Twilight hesitated. She didn't like to speak ill of anypony. "She's—nice. A bit overwhelmed at the moment, and she hasn't had the easiest time of it, but she's truly good-hearted."

"And boring. Yes, she should be ideal."

"You're mean."

"And right."

"Am I really going to become this insufferable?"

"You always have been, and you know it."

"I—" Young Twilight gave up and refilled her own goblet, then took a deep draught.

The deep rumble of Spike's chuckle rolled through the room. "I love you guys," he said.

Both Twilights smiled at him. 

After a bit of companionable silence, Young Twilight said, "I suppose it's time for me to get ready to go—back. I've said all my goodbyes, Windfall is set up for life, and now that you're here—"

"Ah, about that…" Old Twilight gave her the side-eye.

"What?"

"I sabotaged the power crystals. In fact, I set up a network of crystalline booby traps along most of the major ley lines on the planet. From now on, anypony attempting time magic is in for a big shock." She grinned. It wasn't exactly a pleasant expression. "Literally."

"Wait, what? Then how do I go back?"

"I already did that. There's no reason you have to duplicate my effort."

"B-but, if I don't, you won't… Wait. You're here because of my intention to go back, but once we both existed in the same chronic hypermanifold..." She trailed off, lost in furious thought.

The elder Twilight leaned over the table and whispered to Spike, "I love time travel. You can get away with such awful shenanigans! Just watch. I'll bet you a five pound emerald that she'll be drawing diagrams any second now."

Spike took another pull from his cider mug. "I don't take sucker bets."

Sure enough, soon glowing lines began to form in the air in front of the younger alicorn. After a quarter hour of checking and rechecking her calculations, she was forced to admit, "It is possible. The inciting incident can form an unstable loop that—"

"Been there, done that, had the paper peer-reviewed and published," Decrepit Old Smug Twilight interrupted.

That jolted Young Twilight out of lecture mode. "Really?"

She gave a throaty chuckle that sounded the way that hot chocolate tasted. "No, it's knowledge that I don't want to be generally available, and besides—" She leaned over until her muzzle was almost touching that of her other self. "I don't have any peers."

"Modest, much?"

"And right." Decrepit Old Smug but Admittedly More Experienced Twilight leaned back into her cushions. "I've spent the last quarter century learning the most arcane details of the magical arts, and I just happened to discover the Secret of Life along the way. I am an exceptional pony."

"The Secret of Life? Is that some sort of mystical mumbo-jumbo?"

"Oh, I will freely admit that I spent a few years looking into that sort of thing. But after I climbed Mount Everhoof on hoof and without magic, only to be told by the ancient Yak sage that lives in a cave there at the summit that the Secret is 'squeeze and relax,' I felt disinclined to any further questing in that direction. No, I just happened to realize it one day while I was relaxing and watching a sunset."

"And the Secret is…?" 

Older Twilight gave her a silent, infuriating grin. "Since there's no need for you to go back in time now, you could become my student and wander the world with me. I could pass on my hard-won knowledge to you, and then, someday, I would have a peer. And you might also learn the Secret of Life for yourself. Believe me, I could tell you in a very few words, but until you're ready to know it, to believe it, you wont get any good out of it."

From anypony else, Twilight would have dismissed the offer as manipulative nonsense, but despite her recent struggle against a twisted and evil version of herself, she felt certain that this version had nothing but good intentions behind her offer. More importantly, she felt that there was some deep wisdom hidden within her that would cause everything to work out for the best.

"Well—it would be a situation likely to afford some mutual checks and balances on our power that would reduce the possibility of a future Mad Scientist situation, I suppose," said Twilight cautiously. "And someone to share the long centuries ahead with, who could appreciate a certain perspective, shall we say…?"

"Most long-winded, nerdiest 'yes' I ever heard," quipped Spike from across the table. 

The Twilight Who Knew the Secret of Life smiled. "I am certain we are going to enjoy ourselves," she said.


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