//------------------------------//
// Intermission 3 - A Visit Three Months Later 
// Story: Those Forty Years 
// by Spell Writer 
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It had been a year and three months since Twilight's disappearance. Yet somehow, everything felt brighter for the Mane 5 these past few months. Celestia and Luna hosted events almost weekly to raise the spirits of everycreature who wished to come. The events ranged from just a 'Meet the Princesses' day for foals to small competitions with the two royals being the judges. It was a day like any other in Ponyville. The dirt roads were freshly dusted, and the houses were newly painted. It was almost as if everypony felt they needed to be productive today! Spike was even around, although he was mainly with Rarity when he visited Ponyville for a long-term visit. Spike, to his credit, though, seemed much more happy. The girls hardly knew why he was in such higher spirits, but they weren't complaining. Each of the five had one location in mind. They would visit Twilight's castle, mainly to just relax together. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike were the only six creatures allowed to enter the castle anyway, and these past few months, they had been making it a habit to visit it. Even though none of them particularly wanted to clean it.

The five ponies, plus one dragon, met up near the crossroads leading up to the castle, a large patch of land sitting empty next to it. The six were talking about their days and their general day-to-day lives. Rarity glowed her horn with its gentle blue hue to open the doors to the castle. The group enters the foyer one at a time, Rainbow Dash closing the door behind them. With a loud THUD, the door settles back into its closed position, the group happily pressing forward to their newly made, most common meeting spot.

The throne room of Twilight's castle was unique, having one seat for each of her friends, plus one more specifically for Spike himself. The element bearers hoped to make many more memories in that throne room with Twilight, but they had decided to make memories as well as they could because that's what Twilight would want.

As they approach the throne room, Rarity pulls both doors open with a flick of her horn. She had spent some time practicing magic these past few months. While she didn't have much talent for it, it was her way of remembering her friend. The unicorn entered with a little gasp upon seeing into the room.

Applejack was next, approaching the throne room and seeing Rarity frozen before it. She would trot up to her friend, her family was more of the type to take momentos of those that were lost. So she had Spike help her pick something out as a memento from Twilight. They settled on one of Twilight's many scarves, magically enchanted to keep the wearer at the perfect temperature. No matter how cold or hot it was outside, Applejack could wear it and forever have a memento of one of her best friends. As she rushes to Rarity's side, she, too, freezes up. Although, unlike Rarity, she leaps into the room with dramatic speed. This last year had undoubtedly softened her up more than she was willing to admit.

Rainbow Dash didn't even need a moment to react. With her eyesight, she saw what was going on from the doorway. Quickly taking flight, she dashes straight into the throne room, the speed she took causing a small shockwave that caused the fine rug leading to the throne room to fold on itself. A slight twinkle on her mane. While Rainbow Dash wasn't one for anything too fancy, she still had something to remember Twilight by, too, a simple mane ornament, perfectly sized and positioned to be proper regulation for the Wonderbolts, of each element of harmony's cutie marks, with Twilight's at the center. The shockwave of Rainbow's flight shakes Rarity from her stupor, who drops all pretense of poise and professionalism to rush into the room next.

Fluttershy and Pinkie trot up next. Pinkie happily ran into the room, suddenly holding a big platter of cakes and cupcakes on her head and back. With a quick trot, she enters the room, party canons setting off all over the throne room.

Fluttershy, while the meekest of the group, still couldn't contain herself entirely. She would wait quietly for an opening before the waves of the ponies inside led her to rush inside. Fluttershy went with a simple locket of a picture she took with Twilight and the rest of their friends. It kept them all close to her heart.

In the room, Spike finds all the ponies in a small heap around Twilight's throne, with Twilight happily hugging them all. The purple alicorn looks utterly exhausted, but with a grand smile, she just holds each of her friends in one big hug. It was an impressive feat, considering she was currently in her non-queen-sized form.

It would take almost half an hour (A hour for Spike and Pinkie) for Twilight to finally not be stuck in a tight hug. "Phew, I was worried you girls would suffocate me with your love for a second there!" Twilight says with a giggle and a smile on her face. Rarity was blanching a little at how unkempt Twilight's mane was, but otherwise, she seemed like the Twilight they all missed. The only change was that Twilight's entire body would sometimes flicker gently. Flashing in and out of existence every few moments.

Spike smiles as he sits next to Twilight, stretching in his chair. "How long can you stay Twilight?" He asks with a tilt of his head. With her flickering body, he figured she couldn't stay just like last time. Twilight smiled a little, proud of Spike's astute observation.

"Oh, I can stay for about six hours. It's the last bit of magic I have left in the artifact." She says idly. Rainbow Dash perking up.

"Wait, you still have to leave?! But I thought you were like… back back." She says with a mumble.

Twilight sighs. "Sorry, not this time. Just a little longer." She says with her head bowed to them. The girls looked at each other and sighed.

Rarity smiles. "It's alright, darling. We just miss you, is all. Your last visits were sooo. Sudden. Considering you only appeared for around five minutes. We hardly got to talk to you at all."

Twilight rubs the back of her head. "Yeah, this magic is a bit unwieldy. I barely learned how to use it PROPERLY a few months ago."

Eternal chuckles in Twilight's head. 'And even then, you still can't cast any proper spells alone.'

Twilight rolls her eyes to herself. 'You're not exactly the best teacher you know. If you had just WRITTEN down the theory you added to mine, I'd already have it all figured out!'

After the short silence, Pinkie tilts her head as she looks at Twilight's facial expressions. "Are you arguing with yourself again, Twilight? Do you need double the cupcakes and cakes for parties, too?"

Twilight's train of thought is broken by that question, causing her to giggle. "No, Pinkie, I'm fine with just the normal amount." 'Wait, nooooo! You never leave any cupcakes for me! I blame Celestia for giving you such a massive sweet tooth!'

Rainbow suddenly and instantly dives forward into the center of the room. Standing on the crystal at the center of their chairs. "WAIT! If Twilight is only gonna be here for a few hours, then we totally need to catch up! The right way! Pinkie!"

Pinkie hops up and salutes. "Yes, Sargent Rainbow?"

Rainbow smiles. "Not a Wonderbolt yet, but I love the enthusiasm! Get a little party ready for when Twilight leaves. We each get Twilight for an hour! That leaves one hour at the end for us to all relax and have some cake before she has to leave!"

They all nod as Pinkie runs out of the castle. "I'll be back in a little!"

Twilight's face changes to one of confusion. "Wait, wha?" Before she suddenly feels herself getting pulled outside. Spike chuckles a little as he's placed on her back.

"You shoulda expected this. They've all missed you a ton, Twilight. Oh, wait, but." Spike rubs his chin.

Twilight pits the heel of her hoof into the ground to try and slow down a little from the pushing. While this form was much weaker than her natural form, she was still several times stronger physically than she originally was. Each of the pushing ponies finds themselves stumbling forward as Twilight becomes, in effect, a block of tungsten for them to push. "Hold on, girls. Let me just put on a cloak or something if I'm going out. I don't want ponies to freak out, ya know!" She says quickly. The rest of them giggling.

Rarity sighs. "Fine. But if you're putting something on to hide, then I insist we go to my boutique last. I want to give you the entire nine yards, darling. A new outfit, some mane taming, and an intense bath. I'd love to take you to the spa, too, but we don't have that time."

Rainbow smiles. "Then I call dibs on first. I wanna see if you're any better at flying than you used to be! Don't you go easy on me either!"

Applejack smiles. "Ah just want to give ya some cider to take back with ya. Ahm sure, you have plenty from the past, but nothin can beat Granny Smith's recipe!."

Fluttershy smiles a little. "Oh, well, I just wanted to show Owlowiscious that you're okay. I can bring him here, though, instead." She had expected this to a degree, having been the only pony of the group not pushing.

Pinkie Pie suddenly appears out of nowhere with several boxes. "I just want ya to have fun before going back! So just make it to the party~! Oh! And help me decorate the cake!"

Twilight smiles "Alright! Rainbow, let's head up to the raceway." 'Do you mind?'

After a moment, Twilight's horn glows gently as she and the rest of the group, aside from Pinkie, teleport to the Ponyville Cloud Raceway. She challenged Rainbow on the same obstacle course so many times when she was avoiding her castle. For Twilight, that was so very long ago. Even then, though, she felt she could give Rainbow a run for her money this time!

Setting down each of the ponies with a simple cloud walking spell on them, Twilight and Rainbow fly up to the starting ring where Pinkie was waiting, around fifteen balloons tied to her torso as she whisked a bowl of cake mix. "Alright, fliers!" Pinkie says with a smile, "On your marks! Get set! GO!"

Twilight and Rainbow quickly zoom off. In terms of pure speed, Rainbow has Twilight beat. However, surprisingly enough, Twilight is keeping up thanks to her flight handling. Her sudden turns and diagonals, not to mention her 180s, were flawless! 'Rainbow Dash has us utterly beat still, huh?' Eternal says to Twilight as the latter flies as fast as she can.

"Well, we do better turns than her. Considering how much action this body has seen." Twilight responds to her shadow, quickly skidding in the air as she makes a solid 45-degree turn, losing hardly any momentum. Rainbow was always around a full pony's length ahead of her, if not more, but Twilight didn't fall dramatically behind like she used to. As Rainbow flew right through the finish line, Twilight followed soon after, landing right on a cloud with a wipe of her brow. Twilight was sweating a small amount from that race. "Geeze, Rainbow, you're so much faster than any of your ancestors. It's not even funny." Twilight laughs loudly to herself.

Rainbow pants a little as she lands. That was actually a rough race for her. While Twilight didn't have the speed to keep up with her, those absolutely perfect corners and drifts meant that her friend was keeping up on sheer technique. "Heh. Well, that's good to hear. No replacing the best, after all. Besides, I have Wonderbolts tryouts in a few months." She says with a broad smile on her face. However, the pegasi did notice something else. Twilight was hardly tired from the race.

Rainbow would land on Twilight's cloud and smile. "Although, you're not exactly the same either. That was some incredible flying Twilight. Let's go again! I still got plenty more time in my hour!" She says as she flies up.

Twilight would smile excitedly. "Alright! Let's fly till we drop! Show me that you deserve to be in the Wonderbolts, Rainbow!" The two would race fifteen more times. Twilight won two races, while Rainbow won thirteen.





Twilight groans, "AGH. I shoulda had you on the last one!" She says as she flexes her wing. "Needed to flex the outer edge of my wing just a little less to take that turn and overtake you!" She and the group are heading to Sweet Apple Acres so Applejack can grab the cider barrels she wanted to give Twilight. After that, they were going to go to Fluttershy's cabin to see Owlowiscious. Eternal chimed in after that statement, overwriting whatever Rainbow said to Twilight, 'That would have been the difference between Unity's hoof slamming into your wing and you cleanly dodging. Need to shape that up, Twilight.'

The comment would make Twilight sigh, 'Not everything has to be about that. Let's just relax.'

Eternal would mumble back, 'They're your friends, not mine. I still think visiting this era is a mistake. We have duties to our ponies in the past still before we can relax!'

Twilight sighed as she looked to the group, putting Spike down. "Excuse me for a moment. I have to have a conversation with myself for a moment." She says to the group. Walking just out of hearing distance. The rest of the group curiously watched Twilight… and inched closer so they could hear.

"Stop saying that, Eternal. We're the same pony. They're your friends just as much as mine. Heck, I can literally FEEL that you want to be friends with them. Putting on aires won't work on me." Twilight says before suddenly her mouth and expression change.

"That might be the case, but we have bigger problems to worry about. You've been slacking for the last three months on hunting her down. Do you not even care? When she comes back, she will not have mercy towards any of us!" Eternal says back. Before Twilight takes control over again.

"We both know this as a fact. We need to relax and recover. So just stop being all business and let loose a bit! How about this: you can have the first cupcake IF you just stop being such a fuddy-duddy! It's the last time we can come back to this era for a visit. The next time, it's permanent! So let's have fun before the chaos starts," Twilight says softly to Eternal, who stays silent momentarily.

'Applefritter. First apple fritter and you have a deal.' Eternal responds in Twilight's head. 'I won't be around forever, so I want to try one when it's actually warm and toasty.'

Twilight sighs. 'Deal.' Before she turns around and returns to the group, each pony quickly slides back over to act 'natural.' Twilight joined them with a smile. "Sorry about that, girls." She says with a happy smile.

Fluttershy smiles a little. "Uhm. We talked amongst ourselves a little, by the way, Twilight. We want to get to know… um… the other you too. Before you go." The rest of the girls nod, including Applejack, who barely returned in those last moments. Twilight looked quite surprised at them. Her eyes would narrow for the briefest of moments.

"Eavesdropping is a bad habit ya know girls," she sighs. She said that out of habit from dealing with her daughters. "But alright." 'WHA? No! I ref' "use!"

Eternal blinks as she's suddenly in control of the body. Standing stiffly. Unlike her better half, the mental apparition knows her existence is limited in this world. She would eventually fully merge with Twilight once the alicorn finally accepted her as a piece of her instead of continuing this charade of being a separate entity altogether as a sort of... mental defense mechanism.

Because of this, She had zero intention of making any sort of relationship with anypony except Twilight! But now she's stuck hanging out with the ponies she's going to be forced to say goodbye to eventually?! Eternal raises her hoof and puts on a forced smile. "Hi! Erm. I'm Twilight's other half, uh…" She says awkwardly. "AGH This is impossible. Twilight, take it back!" Meanwhile, Twilight is just cracking up in her mind, laughing at how awkward the undefeatable Queen is.

Rainbow chuckles a little. "Ya know, I thought you'd be more intimidating. Spike told us that you're the half of Twilight she made to deal with all the dark stuff from Equestrian history."

Eternal perks up. "Well, I am better than her at fighting, flying, and being a little intimidating." She says as she relaxes a little, Eternal's shoulders lowering a bit as she takes a deep breath. Rainbow leans in a small amount in response, seeing the Alicorn relax.

"Fighting?! Now this stuff I gotta hear! You can tell us about it while we go to Fluttershy's house, right?" Rainbow says with an excited expression. Eternal looked confused but sighed as she responded in kind.

"You really don't change, do ya, Rainbow Dash? Sure." Eternal smiles, "And before you ask, just call me Eternal. I don't have a name aside from Twilight, after all. Let's not be confusing about it."

The rest of the day was full of fun memories for both Twilights. Twilight spent a good half an hour hugging her pet. The grooming she got from Rarity was first class, as always. Finally, the party that ended the day brought back so many memories of her first time coming to Ponyville. Eternal told some edited stories of ancient history, and the group got to know both halves of Twilight. As the party raged on, Twilight watched the girls from her seat, a slice of cake on her plate. "You know. You ponies are crazy." Twilight says with a smile to her friends before she lets out a small chuckle to herself. Time was up for her visit, though. The little orb in her bag gently pulsed as a sign that she had to leave.

The other element bearers just giggle a little in response before they each respond. Rainbow starting out. "Heck yeah, we are. Just like you, Twilight. We'll be here waiting for ya."

Rarity smiles. "Take care of yourself better! Remember, breathe and relax! Rule Equestria well for us, Twilight!"

Applejack chuckles. "Ah, believe in ya, sugarcube. Come back us in one piece!"

Pinkie hops up. "When you get back, we're gonna have a party so big that all of EQUESTRIA will be there! So you both better be ready!" She says with a smile.

Fluttershy smiles softly. "I'll keep an eye on Owlowiscious for you, Twilight. Just come home so he can finally have his friend back."

Twilight giggles. "Thanks, girls."

Spike finishes as he hugs Twilight. "Just. Come home soon, Twilight." Twilight would then hug everypony before giving each of them a soft nuzzle. Twilight would disappear after another moment in that simple time it took to blink.





Elsewhere, a pony reads through a book for the 30th time. "There has to be something I missed in here. WHERE are you, Eternal?!" She mumbles as she stomps her hoof on the ground below her. She's lived as a typical 'good' pony for so long. Eternal HAS to show up soon! At some point, the Queen will return, the object of her hatred will appear! And then she'll…

A blank expression crosses the pony's face. "Oops. I forgot to actually make a plan for when she appears. Uhhh." The pony rubs her own head before getting an idea. "Wait. I don't gotta do it alone." She says as she picks up a picture with her hoof, the green earth pony smirking as she lifts up the frame. "I do have some distant cousins that have forgotten their duty to our great grandmother… Maybe I should remind them~."

The pony puts down a picture of three ponies. A pink-colored filly with a blue mane, the same green pony, and a light purple pony with a dark purple mane with a single teal streak through her mane and tail are together in the image. The trio awkwardly together at a family reunion party.