Starlight stepped out of the portal created by the spell and free-falled into the clouds of Cloudsdale, causing her to let out a scream, she hadn't planned on that. Quickly, she applied a levitation spell on herself, stopping her fall, and when she was sure she wouldn't fall to her death, she cast the spell to walk on clouds. With a hesitant step, she placed a hoof on the ground, and seeing that she was safe, she sighed in relief and turned off the levitation. Her gaze went to the portal in the sky, which quickly faded, before focusing on the scroll that had allowed this, smiling broadly as she put it away in the saddlebags she had brought.
After months planning to steal that scroll, another three months of work modifying a spell from one of the most powerful wizards in Equestria history, and one more looking for a source of energy (which turned out to be that map of friendship, it cost her horrors to discover how take advantage of it), she had succeeded. She had traveled back in time to where she wanted, the moment that princess of friendship and her friends got their cutie marks, now she could exact her revenge, and since she had taken the scroll with her, nopony could stop her.
Starlight walked with determination, looking around her for any clue of the pegasus she had gone to look for. Despite her determination to finish off the ones that destroyed her small town where everypony was equal, she bit her lip insecurity. Where was she supposed to go? If she didn't find that Rainbow Dash soon, she would have done all of this for nothing, and the scroll only had energy left to return to her own time, and she doubted Twilight would let her use the map again. As much as it pained her to admit it, she was an alicorn, and thus, she was likely above her level.
Her ears twitched as she detected the voices of foals, and following her, she saw, from a higher level, some foals arguing on what appeared to be a flying practice pad. A smile crossed her face, nodding satisfied, there she was, even being just a filly, her rainbow mane was unmistakable, and close to her was what seemed to be the shy friend with yellow fur and pink mane. They were engaged in what appeared to be a fight, and if she had heard correctly at Twilight's conference, that fight had given rise to the Sonic Rainboom. She just had to stop her, the question was how, stopping her in midair? Step in now and act like a responsible adult to prevent more fights?
Before she can decide, she hears something behind her, a strange, whispering sound. Starlight paused in confusion and turned around, her eyes widening as she saw what was happening. Some sort of old fashioned police phone booth, a rare sight even in her time, blue in color was materializing in front of her, a small beacon at the top lighting up. With a thud, it stopped, both sound and light, and a few seconds later, the door opened and an earth pony stallion stepped out, sporting a grin. He had light brown fur, and his mane was a darker shade, dressed in a jacket the same color as his mane and a green tie.
"Just in time," he said as he took a step, his hoof sinking into the cloud and drawing the strange pony's attention. "Oops, I almost forgot, we're in Cloudsdale. One second."
The strange pony went back in, and after a few moments came out again, this time wearing some kind of bracelet on his right hoof. Steadying his hoof without sinking, he smiled and walked over to Starlight.
"Hello Starlight, how are you?"
Starlight snapped out of her shocked state and went defensive, lighting up her horn.
"Who are you?"
The strange stallion stopped, but kept his smile.
"I am the Doctor."
"Doctor who?" Starlight asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just the Doctor."
Starlight stared at him, narrowing her eyes.
"How do you know my name?"
"That doesn't matter, what does matter is what you're about to do."
Starlight frowned at her even more. Had Twilight sent him? The mare shook her head, that was impossible, she had taken the scroll that would allow time travel, and Star Swirl had done no more, at least that she knew of.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know perfectly well, Starlight" the Doctor said with a sincere smile, one that turned more serious. "But I'm not here to stop you, I just want to ask you a question."
"A question?" Starlight said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, a question... Are you sure you want to do that?"
Starlight swallowed hard, the idea that he was Twilight's envoy stronger.
"I do not know what are you talking about."
"Yes, you know. And believe me, it's not going to work out for you, it's not a good idea to play with time."
Starlight was silent, thinking. It was obvious that Twilight had somehow managed to send somepony back in time, although she didn't quite understand why it wasn't herself. Her ears twitched and she turned her head, the foals were getting ready to race, she had to finish quickly.
"Look, I don't care what you have to say, it's already too late, and neither you nor Twilight can stop me."
"You misunderstood me, I'm not here for Twilight and I'm not going to stop you, I just want to know if you're sure of what you're going to do."
Starlight blinked in confusion, if that Doctor wasn't sent by Twilight, how did he get there? Shaking her head, she hardened her gaze.
"Of course I'm sure. I'll make sure Twilight and her friends never get her cutie marks."
"You yourself, you're going to doom all of Equestria," the Doctor said with a shrug.
Starlight blinked again in confusion, before she snapped into a rage.
"I'm going to create an Equestria of equality! Cutie marks will no longer separate ponies! Is that condemning Equestria?!"
"I don't mean that, I mean that by preventing Twilight and her friends from having their cutie marks, you will doom Equestria."
"What are you talking about?" Starlight said with a frown. "They're not that important."
This time it was the Doctor who blinked in confusion.
"Wait, do you really believe that?" he said in disbelief, and seeing Starlight fall silent, she sighed. "Alright Starlight, do you know who Nightmare Moon is?"
Starlight scowled in confusion, her horn shutting down for the time being.
"Of course I know who she is, all the ponies have heard that tale."
"Don't you know she came back?" the Doctor asked, tilting his head.
"How is a mare going to come back from a foal story?"
"Wow, you were isolated" the Doctor muttered before looking at her again. "Alright, do you remember that long night at the Summer Sun Celebration?"
Starlight frowned, thinking before nodding.
"I think so, but what does that have to do with this?"
"Well, simple, really" said the Doctor. "Nightmare Moon came back and threatened to bring eternal night to Equestria, and would have succeeded had it not been for meddling ponies who earned the honor of bearing the Elements of Harmony, purifying her and returning her to her original state as Princess Luna. Guess who did that?"
Starlight frowned, thinking. Princess Luna? Come to think of it, while she was stealing the Star Swirl scroll, she had heard the guards talk about a second supreme princess, something that confused her as she thought there was only one, Celestia herself. She shook her head and scowled at the Doctor.
"So what if you're right? That doesn't mean they're as important as you say."
"Do you know who Discord is?"
"Who?"
"You know, the lord of chaos, count of milk chocolate…" the Doctor said with a hoof movement. "Surely you felt that day so chaotic, cotton candy clouds and milk chocolate rain, does it ring a bell?"
Starlight remembered, that day had been hell. She had a hard time keeping order in her small town because of that.
"I guess you don't know who Chrysalis is either, or the King Sombra, or Lord Tirek..."
"Where do you want to go?" Starlight interrupted with a small growl.
"Simple, all of those villains were stopped by Twilight and her friends. If you stop Rainbow from doing her Sonic Rainboom, not only will they not get their cutie marks, they'll never meet, they'll never have the Elements of Harmony in their possession, and therefore, those villains will take control and Equestria will be lost."
Starlight swallowed hard, if only one of those things was true, then what she was doing didn't make sense. She shook her head and eyed the Doctor defiantly.
"You're lying! You're only saying that to stop me from doing this. I'm going to make Equestria a better place, a place where cutie marks don't keep you from your friends."
"Do you really think Sunburst stopped being friends with you because of his cutie mark?"
Starlight felt her heart stop for an instant, her eyes widening and looking at the Doctor. She hadn't talked to anypony about her past, how did that weird pony know that?
"How...?"
"Sunburst was your friend, cutie mark or not."
Starlight looked away, her mind flooding with memories.
"If that was the case, he wouldn't have abandoned me."
"Come with me and I'll show you that you're wrong."
Starlight stared at the Doctor doubtfully. A part of her told her that she had put too much effort into this plan to give up, besides, there was no irrefutable proof that he was telling the truth, but another part argued that if even one of those things were true, she would be doing the opposite of what she really wanted. An explosion interrupted her thoughts and turning around, she saw, below the floating city, the trail of the Sonic Rainboom… she had missed her chance. With a sigh, she nodded to the Doctor, who smiled and turned around, approaching the strange phone booth.
"Okay, let's get going," he said, opening the left door and stepping aside. "Go ahead, you first."
Starlight looked doubtfully at the Doctor before obeying, and as she did, her eyes widened, unable to believe her eyes. Although it should be impossible, she was in a huge circular room, larger than it seemed on the outside, the walls covered with hexagonal plates, a metal ramp ascended and gave access to the center, where there was a circular table full of buttons, levers and various other devices, and from the center, a glass column came out, and inside it she could see some tubes, which connected to a grayish pillar.
"Impressive, right?" said a voice that snapped her out of her shock.
Next to the circular table sat an earth pony mare with a cream-colored coat and a burgundy-red mane with a hint of pink.
"The first time is always the most impressive" said the mare with a friendly smile.
"It's... It's..." Starlight began to spin around, taking in everything. "It's bigger inside."
"I hadn't noticed," said the Doctor's amused voice as he closed the door and walked over to the central control panel. "Well, let's get going."
Starlight gulped as she approached, noticing the mare's smile.
"Hello, I'm Roseluck, or Rose, whichever you prefer."
Starlight didn't answer right away, her mind still trying to process that what looked like a simple phone booth was much bigger on the inside. A noise caught her attention and turning she saw that the Doctor was starting to push buttons, pull levers, all while he ran around the table.
"Hold on to something" Rose said as she did the same. "Trust me, this thing moves a lot."
"A little more respect, please" said the Doctor, still running.
The pipes inside the pillar began to move at the same time that the sound Starlight had heard earlier grew louder. Following Rose's advice, she held on tight as everything around her began to move and shake. A few minutes passed before the sound died away and, with a dull thud, the movement stopped completely.
"We have arrived."
"Where?" Starlight asked doubtfully.
In response, the Doctor pointed towards the doors, without saying another word. Starlight watched the exit for a few moments before she started walking towards it, opening the doors and stepping outside. Once again, she looked surprised, though she should have known this was going to happen… they were no longer in Cloudsdale. They were in a fairly large park, a few ponies were walking in the distance, barely noticing the phone booth appearing out of nowhere, and as she turned her head to the left, she saw the great royal castle looming over the luxurious buildings of the unmistakable and unique Canterlot.
"Canterlot, three years after Rainbow Dash did her Sonic Rainboom" the Doctor said as he walked out of the booth, followed by Roseluck.
"Three years later…" Starlight said as she looked around her. "We've... we've traveled through time..."
"Yeah, it takes getting used to" Rose said with a friendly smile.
"Oh come on, she's already time-travelled, in the crudest and most dangerous way possible, but she has," the Doctor said as he rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, but you're not going to compare me doing it with a time travel spell to doing it in the TARDIS."
"You have a point, now…" The Doctor looked around the park before smiling and pointing to a distant bench. "Okay, go there, Starlight, we'll be waiting for you right here."
Starlight followed the direction the Doctor was pointing and saw, in the distance, a small foal sitting on one of the benches. Having a vague idea of who he was, she swallowed hard and, after one last look at the earth pony, started walking. Just as she had imagined, he was Sunburst, and he was just as she remembered him. He had his head down and his ears down, and he was sobbing slightly, which worried the mare. Looking around, she steeled herself and spoke.
"Hello, are you ok?"
The little colt jumped up on his seat a little and looked up, revealing that he had a few tears rolling down his cheeks. Looking away and wiping himself as best he could on his hoof, he nodded.
"Yes, I'm OK..."
Starlight bit her lip, worried and nervous, sitting down next to the colt that had been her friend. She looked up and focused on the Doctor, who was waiting with Roseluck. After a deep breath, she spoke again.
"It doesn't look like it... Did something bad happen?"
Sunburst was silent for a while, making Starlight even more nervous.
"I failed Celestia's school for gifted unicorns" he finally said, making Starlight stare at him in surprise. "I had to make the egg glow, but I couldn't..."
Starlight couldn't believe her ears. Did Sunburst fail the entrance exam? But if it had been like that... why didn't he come back? The sobbing of the colt beside her brought her back to reality, and after a moment's thought, she tried to cheer him up.
"You can always try again, try to improve and..."
"That's what mom said" Sunburst said between sobs. "We're staying in Canterlot for next year's entrance exam... I... I... I don't want to stay..."
"Why not?" Starlight asked doubtfully.
"I have no friends here..." Sunburst said at last. "I... I had a friend, but mom says I have to focus on school if I want to have a future. I couldn't even say goodbye..."
Sunburst burst into tears, ignoring that Starlight felt her chest being punched. All her life she had thought that Sunburst stopped talking to her because of his cutie mark... and the truth was that his mother had demanded more from him, as she had always done. All those years, wasted on a goal she could hardly accomplish, and all fueled by the belief that cutie marks took away her only friend and support. Hesitantly, she hugged the little colt, who instinctively clung to her. They stayed like that for a long time, until finally, Sunburst separated from her, still crying a little, and somewhat embarrassed.
"I am sorry..."
"It's okay," Starlight said with a smile that she hoped was friendly.
"Thanks for listening" Sunburst looked at her askance, with a little doubt. "You... have I seen you before?"
Starlight forced herself to remain calm as she shook her head.
"Not that I know."
"It's just..." Sunburst frowned, glancing back at Starlight. "You remind me of my friend. Are you part of her fami...?"
"Sunburst! Come here right now!" shouted a distant voice.
They both jumped a bit and turned towards the source of the voice. There was Sunburst's mother, she was just as Starlight remembered, and she didn't seem very happy. The little colt sighed before getting off the bench and giving the mare one last look.
"Goodbye miss" he said before walking away.
"Bye."
Starlight watched as mother and son reunited, the older mare giving her dirty looks as she scolded her son. After a few moments, they began to walk, heading away from the park. Several minutes later, the Doctor approached, watching the mare in silence.
"You were right" Starlight said. "I was wrong."
"I know, but now you can rectify."
"How? I wasted my whole life, I abandoned my hometown, the one I built is now full of ponies who will surely hate me, and I doubt Twilight will listen to me."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," the Doctor said with a smile. "Come on, I'll take you to her and you can apologize."
Starlight looked at the Doctor doubtfully, before sighing and nodding, not that she had much of a choice.
Starlight came out of the phone booth, which Roseluck had called TARDIS, seeing the castle where Twilight lived.
"Here we are" said the Doctor, coming out and standing next to the mare. "You stop."
"Are you sure Twilight will want to listen to me?"
"Completely" the Doctor said with a smile. "And if you're not so sure, tell her the Doctor sent you."
Starlight stared at the strange pony before nodding and starting to walk away, pausing for a moment to watch him.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome" the Doctor said with a friendly smile, before tapping his forehead. "I almost forgot the most important thing. If one day you find me again, tell me what you have experienced today. It doesn't have to be word for word, just tell me when I appeared and where it takes you."
Starlight frowned in confusion.
"Why?"
"Do I really have to say it?" the Doctor said with a smile, giving the blue booth a little tap.
Starlight sighed, nodding and moving towards the castle gates. Just when she was about to knock on the door, she heard that whispering sound, turning her head in time to see the strange machine disappear. After a few moments, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door, waiting nervously. The one who opened it was Twilight herself, who seemed quite nervous.
"Thank you for coming so quickly princess...!" Twilight stopped and her eyes widened at the sight of Starlight in front of her, quickly getting into a fighting stance.
The unicorn swallowed hard and smiled weakly.
"Uh... the Doctor sent me?"
Twilight blinked in surprise before relaxing her posture, staring at Starlight before sighing.
"Just to be clear, by Doctor do you mean a pony who travels in a blue phone booth through time and space?"
"Uh...yeah?" Starlight said doubtfully. "Do you know him?"
Twilight flashed a smile for the first time before gesturing inside the castle.
"Something like that. Come in, we can have some tea while you explain to me what happened."
Starlight followed Twilight inside, breathing a sigh of relief to herself. Deep down, she was grateful that the Doctor had appeared just in time, who knows what would have happened otherwise.