I woke up again as I looked around, figuring out where I was now. Towers stood above a circular building with the beautiful night sky filled with stars shining below. I then gasped as I saw the stars move, and there standing before me in their full glory was an Equestrian creature with massive wings and a horn made of the stars and night around her. It was probably the most powerful and majestic creature I've ever seen. Then there was another much more regular-looking alicorn wearing a black cloak obscuring her body. Still, her eyes were a void of light that shined through the darkness. I was stunned and scared by all that's happened. I doubt they would let me live, let alone turn me back into an adult. The cloaked alicorn said in a soft-spoken voice, "So, this is the little troublemaker? About time you showed up." The cloaked alicorn whispered as she came over to me with her piercing eyes gazing over my stubby frame.
I could only look back, gaze upward at them, and give a sigh of relief that they hadn't killed me yet, so maybe I could talk to them. I rose and waved a hoof. "Hello, I'm Doctor Whooves."
"We know," the two said simultaneously, with the Princess of Space talking for the first time. Its voice boomed and reverberated across the tower.
Being somewhat stunned by everything and said, "I…I just came to be turned back into an adult."
"Oh my, this one is rather brash to talk to us like that?" the princess of time chuckled a little.
The Princess of Space reared its head and said, "Yes, sister, despite giving him a warning, it seems he doesn't understand the predicament he's in."
The princess of Time then trotted around my body and looked me over; it was odd, and I felt weird as if she was peering at my entire existence from birth to death. The princess then turned to her sister and asked, "he is male right?"
"Yes, he is; however, he fell into chaos magic."
"Can you reverse its effects?" the princess of time asked once more.
The Princess of Space stared right at me and said, "yes, but…you know what must be done."
I started to shake all over, fearing what this magnificent, powerful creature meant. If she could, with a thought, she could wipe me from existence, and I knew that I didn't have any way to save myself. I decided the best thing to do was plead my innocence. I gave the princesses puppy dog eyes and squeaked, "please don't kill me."
The princesses chuckled between each other, then the princess of time turned her attention to me and said, "Well, you were breaking the laws of Time and space, but now we don't deal out punishment. It interfered with my rebirth process when I went back in time. As I was the one who was supposed to be turned back into a foal and not you."
"Oh, dear…" I squeaked as I hid my face with my hooves. "I apologize for that."
The Princess of Time continued, "well, luckily, your all-in-one piece didn't phase out of existence. But we also stopped you from causing a major time paradox as well. So, in any case, we were expecting you."
I eyed them as I disagreed with them as. I said, "well, technically speaking, maybe, but if I went back in time and stopped myself from experimenting. The timeline in which I turned into a foal would simply no longer exist."
The princess of Space turned her head and said, "yes, but you would have caused a split in your universe, creating that alternate timeline. But again, you are lucky your machine landed you here."
I paused and now feel somewhat scared at how powerful these beings were being able to fix and correct any mistakes within the timeline. They were the closest things to gods, even more than Princess Celestia and Luna. I gulped and continued, "ok, so um…what will you do?"
The Princess of Space said, "we will dismantle only the current timeline you created, but all your memories from your failed experiment will remain with you!"
I sighed in relief, placing a hoof over my chest. "Thank Celestia."
"Hmm, yes, thank my great-granddaughter," The princess of time snickered behind a hoof.
"Well, technically, yes, but we shouldn't discuss the universe's secrets before a mortal," The Princess of Space responded with a chuckle.
I scratched the back of my head as I realized that they were technically going to erase every mortal in existence due to my stupid experiment. But it was necessary to keep the universe from splitting in two. I looked up at the princesses and asked, "so, you're going to fix my mess….is there anything you want in return?"
"In return for your misconduct, however, you will be the one to take in the cycle of the universe into its reoccurring year every year for a decade. I prefer being in my mature body," The Princess of Time chimed.
I blinked, realizing that I was going to the being to keep the universe and time in motion, and said, "So, I'll turn into a foal then grow up into an adult again?"
The princess of time picked up a suitcase as she said, "Precisely, you will age to how old you meant to be from when you were born each year for
"Well, fine, it's a deal!" I sighed, seeing this was the best option. I had my misgivings with this plan, seeing Derpy would be put in a position of caring for my child, who wasn't born yet, and me. But this was all due to my arrogance, and I will gladly pay for my misguided experiment with a bit of humiliation. Then there was a sudden flash. A wave of white light poured into me as everything suddenly dissipated into nothing.
I woke up once more; standing in front of my time machine, I saw I was in my basement full of my unfinished experiments. I looked down and sighed to see I was much taller with my green tie clipped firmly around my neck. My mind was racing as I wondered if this was indeed when I would use my time machine for the first time? Was all of that even real? Or was it something I conjured up in my mind? This gave me a moment to bask in my adult form, and I looked up to see my time machine standing before me. The phone booth with flashing lights was there, and all I could do was look at it with dread seeing my experiment was a success and it could work. But, the risk of causing another time paradox or turning back into a foal or an elderly pony needed to be considered. My thoughts were then interrupted by my wife.
"Honey, what's wrong? I thought you were going to do your experiment?"
I turned my head to face Derpy, who was giving me a worried look, and I saw that of all the ponies who would be affected by my mistakes, it would be my love. Not only will she be caring for me but our soon-to-be-born child, and at this point, she didn't even know she was pregnant yet either. I didn't know how to explain everything without sounding crazy. "Uh…n…nothing, I um…uh…Maybe I shouldn't do time travel tonight; we went to the New Year's party at Sugarcube Corner, right?"
"Oh, that sounds like a great idea!" Derpy exclaimed in excitement. I trotted upstairs with my wife, hoping to go and enjoy a lovely New Years!"
I squeaked, feeling somewhat embarrassed; they then heard a knock at the door. I gulped, being a bit worried about who could be on the other side, and I slowly opened it and gasped to see the stork Craig standing outside with his little blue hat. He dropped a box down as he tipped his hat to me and spoke. "Good day, Dr. Whooves; glad to see your not in diapers anymore."
I just stood there with my mouth wide open, and I had to rub my eyes and slap myself. But Craig was still standing there with a smirk on his beak. I shouted, "so that wasn't just some crazy fever dream!?"
Craig shook his head and said, "nope! Why do you think I'm here?"
Derpy slowly came over with a dumbfounded look on her face. "w…what are you?"
The bird tipped his hat to my wife and said, "just a humble delivery bird, mam. As for why I'm here, I think it would be best if your husband explained the details." He then started to take out a basket filled with all kinds of foal supplies and hoofed them to Derpy. "This is for you to keep you from spending any money on your husband's deal. Also, we will be sending some storks down soon to help renovate a nursery."
As Derpy took the wicker basket full of foal supplies looking somewhat stunned. I shook my head as my cheeks grew hot as it would be a lot to explain and sighed, "Right…thanks…."
"Well, it's been a pleasure; I look forward to our next meeting," Craig chirped as he tipped his hat once more and then flew off into the air.
Derpy looked completely confused as she turned to face me and asked, "so what's going on?"
I just sighed, scratching my mane's back as there was a lot to cover, and said, "let's talk on the way to the party; it's a long story…."
"So, after I told my wife as much as I could, we went to the party, and that's how I started being the New Years' Foal," Dr. Whooves exclaimed as he threw his hooves in the air.
Twilight blinked as she looked over her notes, seeing that despite his notes on the "alternate dimension" being vague, there was a lot to take in from the interview. The mare then put her pen and notebook down, and with a smile, she said, "Wow, that is quite the tale."
"Yes, it is now. I need to remind you not to tell any pony outside of Princess Celestia and Luna. They have a right to know that their Great Grandmother is the literal princess of time. Sadly, that's all I was able to learn. I've only ever had interactions with the Storks they send down to give us supplies and renovate my room." Dr. Whooves explained.
Twilight stowed her notes away as she slowly rose up and said, "of course, I'll inform the princesses, and that'll be it. Thank you for this interview. I need time to digest all of this.
"Well, let it be a lesson to ya, and every other pony doesn't mess with time travel," Dr. Whooves yawned as his eyes drooped. Derpy then trotted over and cooed, "I believe it's time for his nap.."
She picked the colt up and slowly placed him on her back. Derpy turned towards Twilight and whispered, "do you need anything else?"
"No, I'm fine; you take care, ok?" Twilight responded and then slowly trotted off with a smile as Derpy waved a hoof "goodbye" as she went upstairs to put her husband down for a nap. As Twilight left the house and trotted out into the streets of Ponyville. Twilight paused and took a deep breath as she thought about Dr. Whooves and his story. She was now super curious about their other princesses and wanted to learn more. This thought would not leave her mind as she continued her trot down the dirt road, and as she came to Golden Oaks Library, she asked herself, "I wonder if I can enter their domain?"