//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: Science vs Magic // Story: Starlight Glimmer's Time Travel Mishap // by Foal Star //------------------------------// Starlight Glimmer and Twilight both were astonished upon Starswirl revealing himself to them, and Twilight was the first to shout. “No way! Starswiww, ya a baby?!” The colt’s cheeks flushed pink as he continued to explain. “Weww, not weawwy. I was about fifty when I learned how ta use time magic, and during an expewiment I came hewe. I first taught I went back in time, but when I saw Tia,” He blushed while looking over at her. “I saw hew and tough she immortal, I can tell she alot owda ten when I saw hew.” Twilight blinked, then asked. “Wait…so tat mean ya was twying ta see ta futuwe?” Starswirl gave a nod. “Weww, maybe a wittwe, but I was just testing ta speww. I wasn’t twyin’ ta go tis faw!” The unicorn then put a hoof on her chin and suckled on it. “I was twyin’ ta go in ta past, but I was onwy going back in time thwee days.” Starlight waited patiently to say anything (as she was a bit confused). “Otay, so tat mean somethin brought us all togetha hewe if we wewe going in ta past or ta future?” “Exactly!” Starswirl exclaimed as he bounced up and down on his padded bottom. “Yes, I learned tat has ta be ta case. We hewe for a reason, and we need ta find out before oua timeline gets aww messed up!” Twilight suckled on her hoof some more. “How do we find out what caused us to come here specifically?” The little colt took out a light bulb pulsing with green-colored energy, a trail leading through the door. “When I woke up and found out where I was, tis was with me. Whateva tis is will lead us to whatvea brought us hewe.” Twilight gasped. “Oh, tat’s so coow! But why do ya need owa hewp?” Starswirl explained. “Weww to be faiw, I can’t go out on my own. And if Tia were ta walk around, she'd draw too much attention. We need an adult we can trust tat can get us to tis gween stuff is leadin' us to.” Starlight still felt guilty, knowing full well she’d gone back in time to stop Twilight from meeting her friends, even as she said. “Yeah, we can’t be messing with time, huh?” “Tat's right,” Starswirl proudly proclaimed. “We gotta not do too much, or else time will get messy!” Twilight continued to suckle on her hoof, then took it out of her mouth and said. “Otay, guess we got owa mission, we can pwobabwy ask my mommy or daddy now tat tey know who I am.” The colt threw his hooves across his chest. “Not tats a bad idea, but I was hoping we’d get a pegasus ta hewp. He or she can fwy over clouds.” The little pink-coated unicorn groaned, seeing that there was only one obvious choice for the job. “Ugh, fine, guess we can ask Windy Whistles.” “Who tis Windy Whistles?” Starswirl questioned. “She’s my mo-I…I mean caretaker,” Starlight explained. “She taking care of me, and weww she a pegasus and she a mommy, so it won’t wook too weiwd with her carrying us bout ta place.” Starswirl eyed her as he seemed to get suspicious of her. “Twilight said she was just time traveling to stop herself from going cwazy bout a disaster tat never happened. So why did ya use time travel?” Twilight turned to face Starlight, who was taken aback and stammered. “Um…weww, ya see… I was… just twying ta practice time magic. I wasn’t twying ta do anyting bad!” “Ya sure? Ya looking wike ya squeamish.” Starswirl questioned. “Twust me! I just taught I messed up ta spell and ended up as a baby. I didn’t even know I was in ta past until I saw ponies I knew as babies.” Starlight nervously insisted. “Well, otay, just making sure,” The colt finished. “I feel like that sums up evewyting.” Princess Celestia then spoke up and smiled. “And I agree that Windy Whistles will be an excellent choice in getting you back to your original timelines.” Both Twilight and Starlight looked up at the princess and cried out in unison. “Tia can hear us?!” Starswirl nodded as he showed a little rattle and explained. ”I enchanted tis so tat as wong as we next ta adults, tey can hear us talk in baby babble.” Starlight was surprised. “Well, tat explains a wot. Ya a genius even when ya was in diapees!” “Hey, even geniuses wewe babies at one point! I am not wowwied bout my diapees!” Starswirl retorted, then turned around and thrust his padded butt in the air showing off his padding. “See?" The fillies burst into laughter while Celestia clutched her chest with her hoof. “Oh, stop it; you’re going to give me a heart attack!” Stasrswil rolled onto his bottom and then asked. “How is tat, Tia?” Celestia levitated the little colt and booped him on the nose. “By being too adorable, that's how.” The princess then plopped the colt onto her back as Twilight asked. “Wait, I get why Tia not gonna go out in public following tis trail, but what about having a servant ow a guard go instead?” Celestia explained, “I did consider that, but I think it would be better to have a regular civilian do this. If a random guard or castle maid were wandering around with foals that aren’t their own, ponies would surely become suspicious. And I think Windy Whistles is perfect. She can babysit you foals, and nopony would think it's out of the ordinary; then she added. “Now, I'm going to have Starswirl turn off his ‘rattle.’ So you’ll not be understood by adults once more. Remember, as adorable as you are; our goal is to get you three back to your original timelines with as little altering as possible. So don’t use ‘We don't want to alter things too much’ or try to do anything you’re not supposed to do. Understand?” “Yes, Auntie Tia!” All three foals chimed. Starswirl then turned off the enchantment, and Celestia flew back from the castle and towards the magic daycare. After Princess Celestia returned to the daycare, she explained to Windy Whistles and Twilight Velvet in secret everything she learned about the three foals and how they need to return to their timelines. The two seemed to be pretty much on board, Windy flying up and clapping her hooves in glee! “Oh yes! This is going to be so much fun! Sounds like we’re going on a quest!” Twilight Velvet, however, looked disappointed. “Oh, do they really need to go now?” Princess Celestia gave a sigh. “Sadly, yes. Starswirl has already been here for a month, and I assume these two have also been here that long. Time could already have been irreversibly altered just by these foals already being here for too long.” Twilight Velvet asked. “But…would it be ok if we had a foal sleepover? I'm sure one more night wouldn’t hurt.” Princess Celestia looked down at the three adorable foals giving her puppy dog eyes. It didn't take much for her to give in to their adorableness, then she sighed. “Alright, one more night, but that’s it. I still have some unattended duties to perform, so I'll leave these three in your care. Just be careful, keep an eye on them, and make sure they don’t do anything that could further alter the timeline,” She then hoisted baby Starswirl and Twilight to Twilight Velvet and Starlight back to Windy Whistles. “I'll leave you two to get these foals home.” “Yes, princess.” Both mares responded with a bow. Princess Celestia also bowed her head, then flew off into the air as she headed back to her castle. The foals were brought to Twilight’s old house, and Starlight was plopped in a playpen with two Twilights, the “smart” Twilight who was talking to Starswirl, asking him about magic and going over everything he’s ever written. Starswirl seemed to be trying to answer her questions, but it was clear he couldn’t keep up with the overly excited filly. Meanwhile, “Baby” Twilight was napping in a corner, hugging a rag doll to her chest. Starlight looked away, seeing that maybe tomorrow she’d be back as an adult years from now, realizing that she was feeling guilty and scared that if they found out why she went back in time, they could leave her like this. She just had to keep quiet and try to keep to her lie. “So, what time spell were ya using?” Starswirl asked. Starlight looked up quickly and said, “Oh, um… just uh…ya know ta one scroll ya have? I uh…got ta ok fwom Tia to twy it out, and tat’s how I ended up here.” “Hmm, that's a complicated spell,” Starswirl pondered. “How did you do it?” “Well, ya know, I learn a wot bout magic fwom Tia, and she wanted ta see if it can wowk.” Starlight quickly lied. Twilight scratched her head. “Wow, ya must be pretty powerful! Did we meet in Tia’s school? When did ya graduate?” Starlight gulped and then started to scratch her mane as she continued to lie. “Uh yeah, ya wouldn’t know me, I gwaduate bout a year after ya left Canterwot.” “Oh, otay. Well, I glad ta meet a fellow student.” Twilight chirped as she held out a hoof. Starlight hesitantly took out a hoof and shook it. Then the two heard knocks at the door, and the moms opened it, revealing a night blue-coated stallion escorting a young white-colored colt and chatting to a massive pegasus (who Starlight recognized as Bow Hothoof) with baby Rainbow Dash on his back. “Smart” Twilight started to get rather nervous and whispered. "Hey Starwight, tats my daddy Night Wight, and big bruda Shiny. Pwease keep me being a big pony from ta future secret... specially from Shiny. If he find out I went back in time as a baby, he gonna neva let me forget it. He already tease me enough just ‘cause I swept with a doll untie I weft Canterwot." "Otay, I promise," Starlight whispered with a snicker wishing she had a camera to take a picture of Twilight in this state. Bow Hothoof then dropped Rainbow Dash off in the pen with a smirk and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Now play nice, little Dashie. I know they’re unicorns, but I'm sure you can make friends with at least one of them." Rainbow just eyed the foals as Shining Armor peered at them. “Mom, where did all these babies come from?! You checked them to see if they were changelings, right Mama?! Cadence says changelings can be anypony, and they not very nice.” “Of course, I checked them, Shiny. They’re fine; as I said, this other ‘Twilight’ is a lost foal that looks much like your baby sister. Luckily for us, we found out where her parents are, and we’ll be taking her back to them first thing tomorrow.” Twilight Velvet explained. “Oh, that’s good,” Shining responded with a blush before looking down at “Smart” Twilight and whispering. “Sorry, I thought you were a changeling. I promise not to make that mistake again.” “Smart” Twilight just threw a hoof over her face and blushed. “See, we’re all good? Windy Whistles is fostering these little cuties, and we found out they come from the same place, so we’ll be leaving tomorrow to take them back home,” Twilight Velvet explained as she ruffled the pink unicorn’s mane. “And she also brought her own daughter to hang out as well.” Shining eyed them and mumbled. “Why do they all have to be babies, though? They don’t have any older brothers or sisters, do they?” Rainbow Dash scoffed while Starlight shook her head. “I'm sorry, sweetheart,” Twilight Velvet apologized. “But if you don’t wanna stay with the babies, I'm sure Fancy Pants’ mom would be ok if you come over for a sleepover” “Really?!” Shining squealed in delight. “I gotta go pack my stuff!” He then ran down the hall as Rainbow glared over the unicorns. “Can’t believe I have ta play with a bunch of unicorns.” Twilight got ecstatic, bouncing on her padded bottom, toddled over, then threw her hooves around the pegasus as she squealed! “Dashie!” “Hey, who ta heck are ya?!” Rainbow whined as she pushed the unicorn off. Twilight tumbled over and then giggled. “Sowie, I got excited. I Twilly.” “Ya ta smarty pants Twily! I baby Twily!” Baby Twilight chirped as she rolled on her back. Smart Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “Yeah, guess ya can say tat.” “Whateva!” Rainbow snorted and pouted. “Dun care if ya smart or dumb, I dun wanna be any of ya friends!” “Well, guess tat makes two of us,” Starswirl grumbled. “Ugh, come on, Dashie, stop being such a meanie!” Starlight whispered as she threw out a hoof and continued. “Tey aww gonna help me get back ta being a big pony!” Rainbow paused, taken aback by the news. “Tats… good…tat mean ya gonna be able ta be a big pony and do big pony things, right?” Starlight nodded. “Tats wight, but tat won’t be until later. And ya can’t tell anypony but us about it, speciawwy not ta gwown-ups,” Then she proposed. “Bu fow now, why dun we pway a game?” “Like what?” Rainbow questioned. “Hide and seek tag!” Starlight declared. Rainbow laughed and boasted! “Yeah, I ta best at tat! And I gonna go fiwst!” Starswirl turned his attention to the fillies and asked. "Um, how ya pway hide and go seek tag?" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Ya neva play hide and seek tag before?" "Weww, unlike ya, I was busy studyin’ magic!” Starswirl proclaimed with a humph. “I not wike ya dumb babies!” “Guess we’ll see who ta dumb baby is soon enough,” Rainbow growled. “Uh…um? What ya name?” Starswirl rolled his eyes and snapped. “Stawswiww ta Beawded!” “Uh…ya dun got a beawd.” Rainbow pointed out. Starswirl brushed his chin with a hoof and then snapped. “I will have a beard soon, but I a baby wight now!” “So…why dun tey call ya Starswirl ta Padded?” Rainbow Dash teased. “Wook, how big ya diapees awe!” This got a laugh from the other foals as the little colt covered his thick padding and stayed silent. “Smart” Twilight then, with a blush, raised a hoof and admitted. "Um, I dun know how to play either." Rainbow Dash groaned again. "It's easy," She flew over to some blocks and stacked them up. "This is ta base, we play wike hide and seek. Ya go hide and I count down from ten. When I weach zewo, ya gotta twy to get to ta base while I chase ya. If I tag aww of ya, ya lose. But if one of ya get to ta base ya win, get it?' Every foal nodded, then “Baby” Twilight raised a hoof and asked. "Um, Dashie? Gotta ask. Do ya know how ta count?" Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Sowwie no, Mws. Stomwy Cwouds counts fow us at daycawe." Starswirl raised a hoof and exclaimed. "Weww, unlike ya babies, I can stiww count! So tat means I can be it!" "Otay!" Everypony chimed as all the foals then ran off to hide. Meanwhile, Starswirl went to the corner of the playpen and started her countdown. "Ten… nine… eight…" The colt continued as countdown Starlight and the other foals all ran about hiding under plushies or piles of blocks. Starlight decided to hide under a pile of plushies and waited quietly. When Starswirl finished counting, he started to go about through the playpen, looking for foals. Rainbow Dash suddenly burst up from a pile of blocks and flew toward the base. But as she slammed into the base, Starswirl smirked, then gasped upon seeing another baby! He teleported up to block her; she landed on the ground with her padded bottom. With a cloud of foal powder, baby Starswirl totted up and booped her on the nose. "Got ya!" "No faiw, ya using magic!" “Smart” Twilight grumbled. Starswirl huffed. "Yeah, I using magic, so what?" "Tat’s against ta wuwes!" Twilight insisted. Starswirl shook his head. "Nah, uh! Ya neva said anyting ‘bout not using magic!" As the two argued two, “Baby,” Twilight snuck on by, giggling as she ran towards the base. But Starswirl teleported in front of her and tagged her out. Starlight groaned; she was the last one who hadn’t been captured yet. She charged forward, trotting as fast as her little legs could carry her! But soon, clones of Starswirl came at her from all directions. Starlight saw the only chance she had was if she could somehow teleport herself to the base. So the little filly squinted her eyes and lit her horn, concentrating with all her might! With a loud “ZAP!” Starlight sent herself teleporting across the room and slamming into the tower of baby blocks. The filly then got up with a giggle, clapping her hooves together, and cheered! “Yay, I did it! I won ta game!” The other fillies giggled and cheered! “Yay Stawlight!” Rainbow Dash flew over and hugged her tightly, and squealed. “Yay, my sissy did it! She won ta game!” “Sissy?” Starlight responded, being rather astonished by Rainbow Dash calling her a sister. She hugged Rainbow back and nuzzled the little filly. She couldn’t help but feel even more guilty about her original intentions to destroy her friendship with Twilight in the future. What’s even worse is that they might be going back to their original timelines tomorrow. “Alright, cuties, it’s time to eat!” Windy chimed as she then fluttered over, scooped the foals into her hooves, and carried them away in the air. They were taken to the kitchen where Twilight Velvet had already set up a few highchairs, and she and Windy went about strapping each baby in, attaching a food tray to their seats. Starlight kicked about in her padding as she was fed baby food by Windy Whistles while her husband fed Rainbow Dash. Night Light helped feed Starswirl as Twilight Velvet focused on the two baby Twilights. They went about chomping away at the baby food of mixed yams and peas. The parents chatted away about typical stuff, like their days and the pros and cons of living in Canterlot or Cloudesdale; it was all rather boring as Starlight focused all her energy and gulped down each delicious bite of her baby food, enjoying being spoon-fed probably for the last time. Then after Starlight’s mouth was wiped, Windy went and plopped a bottle filled with her milk right into Starlight’s mouth; she drank down every last bit of Windy’s milk and enjoyed nearly every second of it. Then, she was given a pacifier when the bottle was plucked from her mouth. Afterward, the five foals were taken to Twilight’s nursery, which was rather adorable. The walls were covered in beautiful stars, and a sparkling carpet was laid out on the ground. The room was furnished with two cribs set up and covered in foal toys, foam blocks, plush animals, and a few pop-up books were strewn about. Twilight Velvet tucked the two Twilights into one of the cribs and then stammered. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to leave the room in such a mess. I’ve just been busy with all of these babies.” Windy laughed. “Oh, don’t worry! Trust me; you should see Rainbow Dash’s room after she goes through a rough play session.” Twilight Velvet snickered. “Awww, your Rainbow sounds a lot like our Shining; he makes such a mess when he plays knights and dragons with his friends. And he’s always a knight; he never wants to be the dragon.” Bow gave a hearty laugh. “Yeah, that’s our Rainbow! Brave and fearless! I bet she would love playing with your son. Though she seemed to get actually quite well with your Twilight.” “Which one?” Twilight Velvet teased as she hoofed each of her daughters a Smarty Pants doll. Meanwhile, Starswirl, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight were all tucked under the same crib as well by Night Light, who whispered, “This was Shining’s crib; lucky for you, we never got rid of it. My wife insisted on holding onto everything Shining had as a foal when she learned she was pregnant with our Twilight.” He then turned on the mobile covered in little swords, shields, and tiny dragons dancing above their heads. The adults then slowly left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. As the lights went off, the room glowed with the little stars, moons, and magical light covering the ceiling and walls. Despite the room being rather peaceful, Starlight was too excited and happy, which she shouldn’t be feeling concerning the situation, but she was indeed loving the fact she was a baby. However, the silence was broken when Rainbow Dash started to cry. It was a soft whimper, and Starlight maneuvered herself to face Rainbow and asked. “Hey, what’s wrong?” “Noting.” Rainbow snapped and turned away. She blinked, rather surprised, but it didn’t take long for her to realize this might be the last night they would be together. “Wainbow…I know ya sad I weaving, but ya knew tis was gonna happen eventually, wight?” Rainbow sat up and snapped. “Well, if ya wanna be a big pony again, tat’s fine! Dun want ya awound anyways!” Starlight paused, seeing there was no consoling Rainbow; it reminded her of what happened when she’d lost Starburst. Still, she crawled over to the pegasus and hugged her. “Wisten, Wainbow, I maybe shouldn’t be doing tis, but… see tat baby unicorn over thewe?” Rainbow turned to see the actual Twilight sleeping in a crib across from them, along with “Baby” Twilight, who was still awake, kicking about and cooing. “Tat fiwwy is gonna be ya best friend in ta futuwe,” Starlight insisted. “So when we weave tomorrow, ya stay here, play with Baby Twily, and be her fwiend.” “How ya know?” Rainbow questioned. Starlight just whispered. “member, I fwom ta future, trust me on tis.” “B…but she, not ya tough? I dun want her ta be my friend! I want ya!” Rainbow whined and hugged her. Starlight hugged Rainbow Dash back and gave her a pat on the back, “Well, I not leaving til mornin', so why dun we sleep togetha?” They then dug under the covers, and Rainbow continued to whimper slightly, but she calmed down feeling Starlight next to her. Maybe instead of destroying Twilight's future friendship, Starlight had just sped it up. The next morning came before long, and after some diaper changes and a breakfast of baby oatmeal and hot milk, three baby unicorns were strapped to Windy Whistles’ side: Twilight and Starlight on her left side and Starswirl on her right. “It looks like you're a mother of five!” Twilight Velvet joked. Windy strutted about with a smirk. “Oh, I think I’d still look pretty good even after having five children. But just having my little Dashie is enough; I couldn’t keep up with five foals if they were all as energetic as Dashie, they’d run me ragged.” Twilight Velvet giggled, then looked over at her daughter playing with Rainbow Dash as she asked. “So, you don’t mind me watching little Dashie while you get these cuties home?” “Of course not! Rainbow is amazing. Normally, she doesn't warm up to foals that well but look at them,” The pegasus pointed towards baby Twilight and Rainbow Dash in the playpen, running about and laughing as they chased each other. Starlight had a smile on her face. Seeing her pep talk to Rainbow last night had worked. Meanwhile, “smart” Twilight was giggling with glee. “Wow! This is so cool! I was friends with Dashie as a baby!” “Yeah,” Starlight nodded. “Hopefwy she members tis, and ya be friends sooner!” “I’m sure we will!” Twilight laughed. Then, it wasn’t long until Windy Whistles flew through the skies, following the trail. Windy continued to fly for an hour or so, but eventually, she landed right smack in the middle of Ponyville. Twilight was ecstatic seeing it in the past as soon as the mare landed. From Starlight’s perspective, not much looked that different, but Twilight was surprised to see a pink-coated filly ditching school with some friends while she noticed a massive, pudgy baby pegasus colt was squalling as a bottle of milk was forced into his mouth. Windy continued to trot along and eventually came to a normal-looking house with a trail of energy leading right to it. It seemed that there was nothing special about it except for the fact that there was a ton of junk scattered about the front lawn. The older pegasus then slowly knocked on the door, being rather cautious. The door opened, and a brown-coated female earth pony with golden eyes hidden behind a pair of thick spectacles appeared. She then eyed the pegasus and asked. “Who are you?” “My name is Windy Whistles, and uh…” Windy looked around, making sure nopony else was present beside her and the earth pony, then she bent forward and whispered. “Did you happen to find a baby who time-traveled from the future?" The earth pony mare gasped! “Yes, I have!” She then quickly adjusted a green bow tie around her neck. “Sorry, I forgot my manners,” She then stuck out a hoof. “My name is Dr. Elizabeth Whooves. And you are…?” “Name’s Windy Whistles, but just call me Windy,” The pegasus chimed as she shook the other mare’s hoof, then added. “Elizabeth? That’s an odd name.” “I do apologize, but I am from Trottingham. We have some rather peculiar naming conventions there.” Elizabeth blushed Windy waved a hoof. “Who cares? Anyways, I believe your adorable time traveler may be missing something?” The pegasus asked as she took out the green bulb. “Do you know where this comes from?” “Oh, my Celestia!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I can’t believe you found it!” “Found what? I actually have no idea what this is.” Windy commented. “Follow me!” The earth pony mare exclaimed and looked around, then waved a hoof. Windy followed her inside and downstairs to a basement. There was a weird booth of some kind with parts and gears scattered about. And there, in a playpen, looking over some blueprints, was a brown-coated stallion in a pudgy diaper. He turned around with a weird pacifier around his neck. It was a chrome color, with the bulb looking like it was glowing. Upon seeing the mares, he plopped the pacifier out of his mouth. “Mommy, you found tem?!” “Yes, I believe all the time travelers are here!” Elizabeth squealed in delight as she came over to her son, hoofed him the green bulb, and continued. “I also believe this is the last part of your time machine!” The little colt took the part and squealed, bouncing up and down in his diaper! “Yay! Tat means we can all go home!” Starswirl eyed the colt and then, without thinking, turned his enchanted rattle on and asked. “Who are ya?! And how ya talking wike tat without magic?” The colt eyed the baby unicorn. “I am Docta Whooves! And you are?” The baby unicorn crossed his hooves across his cheek and snapped. “Starswirl ta Beawded.” There was a pause as Windy and Elizabeth plopped the rest of the foals around the baby earth pony, and Elizabeth cooed. “Oh calm down, you two, no need to fight.” “Wight, sowie, Mama,” Dr. Whooves replied as he adjusted his diaper, then faced the baby unicorn colt and continued, “Weww, Stawswiww, I learn tat baby babble is just a different language we somehow know as foals. I used an algorithm to locate ta words and translate tem ta owa common language. And thus, with science, I learn how ta turn baby babble into something anypony can understand!” Starswirl rolled his eyes. “Well, my magic can do tat in wike half ta time, and how ta heck did ya even go back in time?” “Simple,” Doctor Hooves explained. “Tis is what I used! But fiwst, befowe we go, can I ask fow yowr names?” “Twily!” Twilight chirped. “I've seen ya around before, I didn't know ya was so smart!” Dr. Whooves’ cheeks flushed pink as he placed a hoof over his face. “Tanks, Twiwiy, I didn’t know ya wiked science too.” “Wike science? I wuv science!” Twilight happily exclaimed! “Tats my favorite subject, just unda magic!” “Tats cool! We should talk more often when we become big ponies again!” The colt cheered. He then turned his attention to the pink-coated unicorn, who was a bit more hesitant as she whispered. “Name is Stawwight Gwimma. We haven’t met in ta future.” “Ah, I see,” Doctor Whooves nodded. “Weww, ta more witnesses thewe awe to my time travel, ta bettew!” Starswirl rolled his eyes. “Ya not time travelin', ya just gettin’ lucky with style.” “Nah, uh! My time machine worked perfectly! Some magic mess it up, and it cwash, and is why I also a baby!” Dr. Whooves snapped back. He then toddled to his mom, who gracefully plopped him up onto her back. Then he adorably stood up on his hind legs, with the colt having a bit of trouble maintaining his balance, but he then slowly screwed the lightbulb in firmly overhead. The machine slowly came to life as the bulbs flickered on and off. Then, just as it seemed it was going to work, the light in the bulbs faded. Dr. Whooves groaned as he plopped his padded bottom onto his mother’s back, threw his hooves over his face, and cried. “Ah, no! What is going on?! Evwyting should be working now!” Starswirl threw his hooves over his chest and replied with a smirk. “See?! Towd ya!” Dr. Whooves reared back his head and shouted. “Weww, ya also in diapees, so I not ta only one who screwed up time travel!” “Well, at least I not using some dumb machine!” Starswirl insisted. “I use magic, which is betta!” “Na uh, science is better!” Dr. Whooves argued back, and he and Starswirl started arguing back and forth: “Magic!” “Science!” “Magic!” “Science!” “Cowts, stop!” Twilight snapped at the two colts, who both turned to her. “Wook, I dun know bout you, but is obvious we got ta use both science and magic ta get us back ta our nowmaw timelines!” “But how do we do tat?” Dr. Whooves asked as he threw his hooves in the air. Twilight slowly turned and saw six dots in a circle beeping on a screen. “I stawting ta tink tat fate brought us here, and tat we can’t go home until we unite ta Elements of Harmony to power tis time machine!” Starswirl laughed! “Tat’s easy! We get Pwincess Tia ta power it, plain and simple.” The smart unicorn filly just shook her head. “Pwincess Tia can’t use ta Elements anymowe, tey dun work for her. We need somethin’ ewse…I tink we need my friends.” She then looked right at Starlight. Starlight blinked, surprised that Twilight was staring at her, and then asked. “Wait, what do ya want me ta do?” “Ya gonna be ta one who gonna get my friends togetha,” Twilight insisted.